Complications
by Lynse
Summary: Vlad Masters is Vlad Plasmius. That realization makes Valerie's life ten times more complicated. And to make matters worse, she can only think of one person to get answers from: the same guy who warned her about Vlad in the first place. Danny Phantom.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This story takes place immediately after _D-Stabilized_ (which I imagine can be guessed from the summary) and, to be safe, disregards _Phantom Planet_. If I'm going to pretend it has any relation to _Connections _and _Confessions_, then this story occurs first. Standard disclaimers apply.

* * *

Vlad Masters was Vlad Plasmius. Vlad _Masters_ was Vlad _Plasmius_. _Masters_ was _Plasmius_.

Valerie still couldn't believe it, and she'd seen it with her own eyes.

She'd been hired to hunt ghosts by a ghost! Or a…part ghost or whatever. How the heck was that even possible, anyway? And it couldn't be wholly unique, either, since Vlad _and_ Dani Phantom both had the same…condition.

Oh, God, how many other ghosts were hiding out as humans?

What had ever possessed her to let Danny Phantom go? A brief bout of generosity, she supposed, and she wouldn't have found out about Vlad if she hadn't, but to think…. She could've had all the answers she wanted. He knew about Dani, since she was his cousin, and he'd known about Vlad. He'd know if there were others.

She still wanted to know about everything else, of course, but the fact that some ghosts were both human and ghost was definitely right at the top of her list.

This time yesterday, she'd vowed to get Vlad back. To hunt him, because now she knew he was a ghost, too, and she knew he'd been using her. But for some irritating reason, she couldn't forget what Danny Phantom had said to her when he'd pleaded with her to help him save Danielle. _Could_ she really destroy another human? That was murder.

She…she couldn't…. Not _humans_. Ghosts, yes. But humans? Even part ghost humans? Where was she supposed to draw the line? Phantom was probably right. If the ghost part was destroyed, the human part would be, too. He ought to know, being a ghost. He probably knew all about it. They all probably did.

She needed information, and she was darn well going to get it. Being stubborn had its advantages. And since Phantom seemed to be such a wealth of information, well, she was definitely going to get some answers out of him. She'd warned him that the hunt would be back on. And, especially since it was the weekend, it would be. Her dad had the weekend shift, so he wouldn't even know. She had as long as she needed.

Besides, she'd caught the ghost boy before. She could catch him again. She just needed the right bait.

Or maybe…. Maybe she should try a bit of a different tactic. Phantom wasn't stupid, but he was gullible. She could use that against him. Besides, he knew she was the Red Huntress and, aside from revealing her to her dad, had kept her secret. Maybe if she tried to talk to him as Valerie rather than as the Red Huntress, he'd let his guard down.

For all that he'd have it up after she'd warned him that she wouldn't stop hunting him, he'd trusted her enough to help him rescue Dani. And she had helped him. And he'd even been willing to turn himself in afterwards, been willing to keep his part of the deal. She'd let him go free in a moment of soft-heartedness, but if she played her cards right, she might be able to get him to think that she was changing.

Dani had fallen for it, but Phantom had probably been around for longer, or at least around her for longer. But if she didn't shoot him the next time she saw him, if she didn't appear to actively try to capture him or destroy him, maybe he'd walk into her trap. Fly into her trap. Whatever.

Ghosts didn't have emotions, not really. They only had _impressions_ of emotions. She knew that. But Phantom had a certain…fondness for Dani, and he definitely hated Vlad. And even if the rest of the supposed emotions he displayed were false, she could still use them to her advantage. He certainly seemed to believe they were real, even if they weren't.

Valerie smiled. This might just work. Of course, Phantom probably wouldn't hesitate to try to blast her to bits the moment she activated her suit, so she'd have to carry a few small things, like an ectogun and handcuffs, with her in a bag that she could whip out when necessary. She could surely manage one ghost fight without her suit if she didn't intend to do much actual fighting. After all, Phantom would be far more likely to fall for her act if she determinedly didn't fight him. He'd have to notice if he knew she'd spotted him but made no move to go after him, and he seemed to be the type who'd have to actually stop and ask why.

The smile on her face turned into a smirk. Sometimes, ghosts could be so predictable. Of course, relying on their predictability could get her killed, so she knew better than to do that, at least in a fight, but she figured she could pique Phantom's curiosity enough that he might just actually ask her why she'd changed her mind and stopped hunting him. At least, in his eyes.

Besides, she had an answer to that. Sort of. He'd been right about Vlad. He might (though she'd only admit it to him once) be right about something else, too.

The drawback to the entire plan was that it was based on a ghost showing up and her being in the area and Phantom keeping with his not-an-evil-ghost act, but if she kept her tracker on, she figured she'd be able to find a ghost—and therefore Phantom—before the weekend was over.

After all, if she spent her Saturday in Amity Park, there was almost a greater likelihood of a ghost showing up than a ghost not showing up, these days.

Though Valerie enjoyed being able to sleep in occasionally as much as the next teenager, especially on weekends, she set her alarm, knowing full well how early it would go off. She didn't have to work this weekend, but if she intended to catch the ghost boy, she needed to be vigilant. That ghost showed up at all hours. She'd get one good night's sleep, and then she'd have forty-eight hours to catch him and interrogate him, and then she might finally get some answers to her questions.

Because, whether she liked to admit it or not, she figured Phantom had a bunch of the answers she needed, and that meant playing nice to get them. He'd probably only wanted to save Dani because she was a part ghost and his cousin or something like that, so he trusted her more than he trusted Vlad. As much as a ghost could trust, anyway.

Valerie bit her lip, trying to ignore the squirming feeling in her stomach. Last night, Phantom hadn't acted…well, evil. He hadn't been the ghost trying to melt Dani down into goo. He'd been, as he'd so often proclaimed, the 'good guy'. And he'd even been willing to keep his part of the deal to make sure that Dani was safe.

But why…. Why go that far? Why not just scram the moment he'd saved Danielle? Why make a point of trying to keep his promise? Was he trying to trick her, to get on her good side?

Or did he really mean it? Keeping his word because it was the right thing to do and all that?

"Get real, Val," she told herself. "You can't fall for Phantom's good guy act now. He probably would've blasted you the moment you went to put handcuffs on him."

Valerie intended to get a good night's sleep. She really did. But last night had shaken her conviction, and though she'd spent the entire day in a daze, probably paying even less attention in her classes than Danny Fenton, she hadn't managed to sort anything out. Her world had tipped. What she thought she knew had been turned on its head. Vlad Masters was Vlad Plasmius. He had lied through his teeth. And Danny Phantom…. Well, Phantom had been willing to keep his word, and he'd tried to save an innocent little girl whom Vlad had tried to destroy.

It wasn't the first time she'd had to work with Phantom. It wasn't the first time he'd saved people, and it certainly wasn't the first time he'd claimed to be a good guy.

So what if it wasn't the first time he'd told her the truth, either?

Valerie groaned and buried her head in her pillow, but the thoughts kept circling in her mind, and it was a long time before she fell asleep. Only one thing was for certain: she was darn well going to get answers out of Phantom if it was the last thing she did.

* * *

A/N: Updates will be sporadic, but I've had this first bit on my hard drive for over six months and I finally gave into the urge to post it. Also, to be clear, this might turn into a revelation fic. I'll see how it goes. So, thoughts?


	2. Chapter 2

Danny had, for once, managed to sleep through the night. For the first time in a very long time, no ghosts had decided to show up and terrorize the town in the middle of the night. Yet, because he'd been at this ghost-fighting thing for quite a while now, he couldn't really sit back and enjoy himself.

"What are they _up_ to?" he grumbled. He knew he should just get out of bed and be done with it now. For one, his thoughts wouldn't let him fall back asleep. For another, it was past ten in the morning, according to the clock. That was kind of nice, actually. He couldn't remember the last time he'd gotten to sleep in. Well, sleep in and still get more than, oh, five hours of sleep in total. Usually if his ghost sense didn't go off and wake him, the explosions from the lab in the basement did, and every once in a while, Jazz would come in and remind him that he should really get up before he slept the day away.

Annoying, but she had a point. Well, she had last time, which is probably the only reason he'd actually finished his English essay that had been due last Monday, since he'd spent most of Sunday chasing after Cujo and avoiding Valerie.

Jazz knew he didn't have any _really_ urgent deadlines, though, and she knew how little sleep he was getting. He even had time to spare before he had to leave to meet Sam and Tucker at the Nasty Burger for breakfast. Well, lunch. Brunch. Whatever. With Lancer yet to assign his next project, they had intended to spend the weekend having fun in between the inevitable ghost attacks.

And, well, take a nice, secluded walk in the park to talk a bit more about what had happened with Dani and what to do with Valerie, now that she knew the existence of halfas was possible. The walk had been Sam's idea, which he and Tuck had agreed to both because no one else would hear them and overwhelmingly because Sam had pointed out it would be a shortcut to her place, where they could try out a few new video games that had just been released.

Admittedly, he was pretty sure none of them had used the term 'halfa' in Valerie's hearing, but she definitely knew Dani was both a human and a ghost, and Danny, to be perfectly honest, couldn't remember if any of the other ghosts had ever called him a halfa when Valerie had been around.

Unfortunately for him, she might just be able to put two and two together. She was smart. Blinded by her hatred of his ghost half while friends with his human half, but still smart. And really, really stubborn. She could definitely figure things out if he didn't do any damage control—or, worse, if he didn't watch himself and he accidentally let something slip. She already knew that Danny and Danielle Phantom were 'cousins'. He didn't need to hand her any more pieces of the puzzle.

Add that to the fact a ghost hadn't yet attacked, and he was a bit more worried than he should be for a homework-free Saturday. He might have to talk to Sam and Tucker and see if they should split up and do a quick patrol before retiring, maybe scout out a few key places like the mall or the water park or something. If it wasn't for the fact that it was a Saturday, he'd guess Technus or someone was planning on attacking the school. Ghosts didn't have calendars, true, but whenever it looked like he might have a light day, or a few light days, it tended to mean that the ghosts had backed off because someone was planning something that would make his life miserable.

Or maybe he should stop worrying about stuff that might not even happen. He deserved a few days off, didn't he? He should consider himself lucky. Valerie had let him go, he'd only had to deal with the Box Ghost yesterday, today was to be a fun-filled Saturday, Lancer hadn't assigned homework for once…. Though, to be fair, Sam had pointed out that that probably meant they had a pop quiz on Monday, but Danny and Tucker had chosen to ignore her and enjoy a state of bliss instead.

Danny groaned. That was just wishful thinking. It never lasted. Something bad was bound to happen today, and staying in bed wouldn't put it off. It would just make it more embarrassing, undoubtedly, because he'd still be in his pyjamas.

No matter. Until the inevitable happened, he'd enjoy himself. After all, he deserved a break, didn't he?

Danny's feet hit the floor just as a shiver ran up his spine and his breath frosted in front of him.

"Way to jinx it, Fenton," he muttered under his breath. Who knows? Maybe he'd get lucky and it would just be the Box Ghost again.

Or maybe, the way things seemed to be going lately, with this lull before the storm, a couple of ghosts were going to show up with Clockwork's Time Medallions around their necks and he'd somehow end up neck deep in a mess he hadn't technically yet created, trying to sort it out before it ever developed. While Valerie was on his tail. Because he highly doubted he'd gotten rid of her.

Sighing, Danny transformed and headed out to find out which ghost was terrorizing the town now.

* * *

"Back off, ghost scum," Valerie spat, aiming her blaster at the ghost who had decided to turn the streets of Amity Park into a skating rink.

"Will you be my friend?" the ghost asked her again.

It took all of Valerie's self control not to pull the trigger just yet. Okay, yes, two days ago, she would've had no trouble blasting this ghost back to the Ghost Zone where he belonged. Now? Well, he was a humanoid ghost. She couldn't be sure.

It was driving her nuts.

Her equipment couldn't tell the difference between Dani's type of ghost and an actual ghost. A full ghost. Not a…a living ghost.

She couldn't commit murder, and she wasn't one to just stop short of it, either. She'd give someone a good beating if they deserved it, like if they were trying to mug her or something, but she wasn't the type of person who went around shooting people who weren't, admittedly, doing a whole lot more than causing a bunch of minor car accidents. And since she really couldn't know if this ghost was like every other ghost, or if he was like Dani and Vlad….

Stupid conscience.

Earlier this morning, when she'd been wandering through Amity Park, she'd wanted a distraction. Anything to take her mind off her dilemma until she found Phantom and could ask him a few questions. She'd actually wanted a ghost to turn up.

Now, she was realizing just how much she would've preferred that stupid ghost dog to show up. At least she knew it was dead. This ghost? She could count the number of times she'd had to deal with him on one hand. She couldn't even remember his name.

"Hey, Klemper! Can you really blame her for giving you the cold shoulder?"

Phantom.

"It's not exactly the time of year for a blizzard," Phantom added, drifting down into Valerie's line of sight. Not, she noticed, within easy blasting range, but at least visible from the corner of her eye.

"Will you be my friend?" The first ghost, Klemper, asked again, this time turning to Phantom.

Phantom sighed. "I can't exactly come over and play, Klemper, and I certainly don't want you coming over _here_. Do you remember what we talked about last time?"

A puzzled frown crossed Klemper's face. Phantom groaned. "About Cujo?" he prompted. "More specifically, _training_ him? To _stay_? Reinforcing what _I_ was teaching him?"

"The ghost dog," Valerie murmured, realization striking her. She scowled. "I knew that dog was yours, Phantom. Trying to pawn him off on other ghosts won't make me forget that."

Phantom, being currently engaged in a conversation with Klemper, didn't appear to hear her. "I keep trying to tell you. Humans don't _like _ghosts. Breaking into the Real World won't help you. And this—" here Phantom waved an arm around at the destruction "—won't help, either. And if you won't go nicely, Klemper, I'm going to have to make you go. Like last time."

"Won't you be my friend?" Klemper asked, looking back at Valerie.

Valerie kept her hand—and gun—steady. "No," she said simply. Then, since she could see Klemper take a deep breath, as if he were about to burst into tears—or, seeing as he was a ghost, unleash some horrible power and start fighting her—added, "Phantom's right. Humans don't like ghosts. I'm a human. You're a ghost. You belong in the Ghost Zone."

It was the same thing Phantom had said, but it set the ghost off this time. A blast of cold sent Valerie flying backwards, and she realized to her horror that she was falling. The controls were temporarily frozen. "C'mon, c'mon," she muttered, waiting impatiently for the various safety features to kick in. She couldn't squash her growing feeling of panic when she realized the street below her was getting way too close for comfort.

Phantom caught her before she could become a smear on the pavement—or before her sled could pull itself out of the dive—and set her on the ground, ignoring her protests. "This won't take me long," he said. "Just make sure no one here gets turned into a popsicle, okay?" Before she could jabber out a response, he had flown back up to meet Klemper, retaliating with a few ectoblasts and chidings, as if he were speaking to a child.

Klemper was in Phantom's stolen Fenton Thermos within five minutes, having been scolded and suitably weakened.

Phantom then proceeded to make himself scarce, but Valerie wasn't having any of it. Shelving her plan from the night before, she reactivated her jet sled (for of course it was all working perfectly now) and gave chase. Phantom shot her an exasperated look. "Aw, c'mon, can't you let me off for a _little_ longer?" he pleaded.

"I'm not shooting at you, am I?" Valerie retorted.

The words made Phantom slow to a stop. He eyed her suspiciously as she drew up alongside him. "Yeah," he agreed slowly. "You aren't. Why?"

"I need to talk to you," Valerie admitted.

Phantom's look of suspicion grew. "About?"

"What else? Ghosts."

Phantom looked surprised. "Like, ghosts in general?"

"Sorta," Valerie said. "Look, if I promise to put the weapons away, can we land somewhere and talk?"

Phantom looked uncomfortable, shifting his weight from foot to foot as if he were standing on the ground instead of hovering in the air. "Um, does it have to be now?"

Valerie snorted. "You're dead, Phantom, so don't pretend you're busy. You and I both know that that ghost isn't going to break out of your thermos or anything like that. Definitely not in the time it takes to have a conversation, anyway. And I'm not going to buy that you suddenly have a pressing engagement in the Ghost Zone, because as far as I can tell, you spend just as much if not more of your time out here." For good measure, she added, "And if you run, I'll just chase you."

Phantom sighed. "Being chased isn't what I was worried about," he muttered.

Valerie pursed her lips. "I know about Vlad," she said. "You were right about him."

_That_ got his attention. "You do?" he asked, his head shooting up so he could stare at her in disbelief. "How?"

There was something else in his eyes, something hiding just beneath the surprise. It looked like…fear? Nah, couldn't be. Sure, Plasmius was probably Phantom's worst enemy, or at least the worst one he had to deal with on a regular basis, but it's not like he hadn't beaten him—or at least hadn't been destroyed by him already. And she somehow doubted that Phantom was the only ghost who knew about Plasmius and Masters being one and the same. Or about Dani.

Which was why she needed to talk to Phantom. He had information she needed, and she definitely needed to know how many more ghosts were out there like the last two. Preferably before Vlad figured out she knew his secret. She still had a grudge against Phantom, yes, but Vlad had been using her, and he'd tried to murder an innocent girl. For now, she could put her grudge against Phantom aside long enough to get some much-needed answers.

"So, park?" Valerie asked airily.

Phantom looked thoughtful for a moment. "Sure. But in the woods. That way, you can lose the suit and I'll have a better lead if you decide to go back on your word."

"I don't go back on my word, Phantom," Valerie spat out.

"Maybe with humans you don't," Phantom said, "but you don't treat ghosts the same way." And without giving her a chance to respond to _that_, he turned tail and started off, flying slowly enough that she could keep pace with him easily. She figured his reason was more to put off the questioning than anything else, though. They both knew she'd followed him at far higher speeds than this.

When Phantom dived for the cover of the trees, Valerie followed. True to her word, she landed lightly on the ground and retracted her suit. Phantom floated down beside her, remaining at eye level, though he didn't look at her. He looked more uncomfortable than she did.

Then again, two days ago, she'd had him effectively bound and helpless. She probably shouldn't blame him too much. "So. Vlad."

Phantom winced. "Do we have to start with him?"

Valerie raised an eyebrow. "Do you want to start with Dani?"

Phantom sighed. "Vlad's what the ghosts call a 'halfa'. Half ghost, half human."

"Like Dani, then." It wasn't a question.

"Dani's a lot more…recent than Vlad," Phantom said. "Plasmius…. Plasmius has been around a long time. Over twenty years. He's a lot more powerful than Dani."

"But how can they be ghosts if they're alive?"

Phantom shrugged. "I'm not a scientist. All I know is that it takes an awful lot of ecto-energy to create a halfa."

Valerie relaxed a bit. "So they're not common, then? Dani and Vlad are basically the only exceptions to the rule?"

Phantom still looked ill at ease. "Basically," he agreed.

Valerie frowned; his face was telling her he was lying, or at least wasn't telling her the whole truth, but she didn't push it yet. If she did, she wouldn't get any more answers.

Of course, she didn't know if she was getting _any_ answers right now, if he was lying, but that was a risk she had to take. Besides, she already knew Vlad was part human and part ghost. Finding out those parts were equal wasn't too much of a revelation. It allowed for some weird sort of balance.

"And you know Dani because she was your cousin when you were alive?"

Phantom opened his mouth, hesitated, and then admitted, "Not exactly. Dani's more of an adopted cousin. But she feels like family. To me, she _is_ family. We both feel that way. So that's how it is. But Danielle doesn't matter, Valerie. You can leave her out of this."

Valerie snorted. Phantom's protective streak was acting up again. It was the same thing she'd seen a couple days ago. "All right. We'll stick to Vlad. How long have you known about him?"

"That he was half ghost?" Phantom asked. "Only a couple hours after I first ran into Plasmius. So, um, somewhere around a year now, I guess."

Valerie raised an eyebrow. From the way Phantom said it, it sounded like he'd run into Vlad's human half first. Besides, even if he _was_ talking to her, someone living, she would've thought it'd be more natural for a ghost to call someone like Vlad half human.

She'd figure that out later, though. She had other things to worry about. "You haven't been around for much longer than that," she pointed out.

Phantom shrugged but didn't dispute her point. "Gossip isn't something that's limited to the human realm. I probably should've heard about it earlier, but I was too busy fighting off any ghosts that came into Amity Park to pay too much attention to what they were saying."

Valerie huffed. "You don't get it, do you, Phantom? You're a ghost. You belong in the Ghost Zone as much as any of the other ghosts you fight off. I don't know why you picked Amity Park to haunt. Maybe you lived here once. I don't know. I never asked, because it doesn't matter. You don't live here anymore. This isn't your town. You know that's why I keep fighting you, right? Because you're a menace?"

Phantom had the audacity to laugh. "You fight me," he said between snickers, "because you're still holding a grudge for something that wasn't my fault." When his laughter had subsided, he continued, "C'mon, Valerie. You've _seen_ me save this town. You know I've saved it. I think a few walls can be crumbled in the process if it means no one dies, don't you?"

Valerie scowled. "Don't push your luck, ghost."

Phantom gave her a searching look. "Something's eating you," he said finally. "Not just this revelation that Vlad's been playing you. What is it?"

How the heck could a ghost, of all things, read her better than any of the humans she encountered, her dad aside? "Like I'd tell you."

"You're the one who wanted to talk, Val. Not me."

"Would you rather I blasted you, then?" Valerie challenged.

Phantom caught her arm before she could reach for her bag. "You promised," he said quietly, "and I seem to recall you saying you don't go back on your word."

Stupid ghost. He knew she knew that. It was the reason she hadn't activated her suit. Valerie bristled and yanked her arm free—Phantom hadn't been keeping a tight grip—so she could turn away from him. "How'd you find out who I was, anyway?" she asked quietly. "You've known for a while. I get that. Just how long?"

"Honestly?" She didn't answer, and after a moment Phantom continued, "It didn't take that long. I knew pretty much from the get-go. It wasn't hard. You had a grudge against me, and I've spent enough time hanging around Casper High to get rid of ghosts that I can identify some of the kids. I recognized your voice."

"Why keep up the charade?"

"What charade, your secret?"

Valerie glared at him. "Saving people. Being the good guy."

"That's not a charade. Heck, I just told you two minutes ago that I'm actually trying to help! If you didn't believe that, we wouldn't be talking now, and you definitely wouldn't have helped me save Danielle."

Valerie slumped to the ground, resting against a tree. "Fine. Okay. It's the whole part ghost thing that's getting me. I just…. I don't know if I can trust you, Phantom, but I don't have any other choice."

Phantom settled down on the grass opposite her. "I haven't been lying to you, Valerie."

"Yeah? So Vlad and Dani are the only two ghosts that aren't actually ghosts, then? The only ones who are human, too? I don't have to worry that the ghost I'm destroying is actually a human I'm murdering?"

Phantom flinched. "Calm down, okay? You're not a murderer. Trust me, Vlad and Dani aside, any of those ghosts out there are just ghosts."

"Vlad wanted me to murder an innocent girl!" Valerie burst out. "And I _fell_ for it!"

"And then you helped save her," Phantom reminded her. "You helped me save her. Right? That's good, okay? Geez, Valerie, don't take it so hard. You're not the only one Plasmius has manipulated."

"Oh, so it's fine, then, because I'm not the only person who's been suckered?"

"That's not what I mean!"

"That's what you said."

Phantom sighed. "I've been fighting Vlad for a long time, Valerie. As much as you hate me, take a bit of advice, okay? Think of it as an enemy-of-my-enemy sort of thing. Just…don't go after Vlad. He'll cream you. I'm probably only still around because he thinks he can get something out of me, but if you go after him…. It won't be good. Not for you, anyway, and, trust me, you don't want to do that to yourself or to your dad. Even if he doesn't physically harm you, he can destroy your life a heck of a lot more than you think I did. I mean, if _Vlad Masters_ so much as snaps his fingers…." Phantom trailed off and shook his head. "Look, if you want to quit hunting ghosts for Vlad, then play dumb and come up with some lie so you don't have to be his lackey, but make sure it's a good one, because he'll check."

Valerie stared at Phantom.

He stared back.

"How'd you know I was thinking of going after him?" she finally asked. Sure, she'd definitely reconsidered it and had decided that that wasn't the best option even before Phantom had given his little speech, but it wasn't like she could deny that the thought had crossed her mind.

That earned her a smirk. "Besides the fact that you're a ghost hunter and just found a new prey? Because you're mad at him. He took advantage of you. He made you think what he wanted you to think, and he played you but good, to the point where he almost had you commit murder. And you hate him for it. Probably even more than you hate me, seeing as you're talking to me right now and no guns are in sight."

"So what do you think I should do?" She hated asking Phantom, but she didn't know what else to do. He was a ghost. Ghosts, like she'd figured, knew about Vlad Masters being Vlad Plasmius, and she had little doubt that they all knew about Dani, too, even if she hadn't been around as long. But this wasn't something she could share with anyone else. It wasn't even a subject she could pretend to casually breach with the Fentons sometime, claiming a class project or something. It was…unheard of.

For humans, anyway.

"Keep it a secret," Phantom said. "Lay low. Don't target him. Just act normal. Don't let him know you know."

"But he'll probably want to talk to me after what happened with Dani!"

"So? He was also trying to convince you that it was all Plasmius's fault."

"But Masters put me up to catching her!"

"And he can argue that he was overshadowed or, more likely, that he genuinely didn't know about her 'condition'. Vlad can talk his way out of this, Valerie. Just don't challenge him."

"So why're you siding with him?"

"_Siding with him_?" Phantom repeated incredulously. "I'm trying to save you! You might be good at ghost hunting, Valerie, but I wasn't kidding when I said he'd cream you, in one way or another. And he will. Because you're expendable. He can replace you. It might take him a while, but he can do it. Scruples are _not_ something Vlad has, okay? How do you think Masters got so wealthy? He's a manipulating scoundrel who doesn't stop until he gets what he wants. If you cross him, he'll crush you."

"Then why the heck are you still around?" Valerie asked. "If you've got something he wants, then how come he doesn't just take it?"

Phantom was silent for a moment. "Because he can't. It's me he wants, and I'm one of the very few things he can't get."

Valerie blinked. "You?"

"And the Packers," Phantom added casually. "And someone else, but he's not getting her, either. Did you notice he got a cat, though? It's good for him, don't you think?"

Valerie narrowed her eyes, refusing to let Phantom distract her. "Why does he want you?"

Phantom gave her a cocky grin. "Why do you think? Same reason I'm a target around here, actually. Because I'm a ghost who can hang out in the human world without all the repercussions the rest of the ghosts face. Because this is my haunt, I guess you'd say. It fits. I mean, I lived and died here. So, yeah. I protect it. You can't really blame me. I like it. And the people in it. Well, most of them, but I'm not going to let someone get hurt just because I don't like them."

"Like the Fentons?" Valerie asked, figuring the ghost boy probably didn't have a big affinity for the ghost hunters.

Or her, come to that. Maybe he felt sorry for her because he knew Vlad used her? Considering he also knew she hated him because he'd ruined her life, that wasn't very likely.

"I don't hate the Fentons," Phantom said softly. "They mean well, too. Just like me. I can see that even if we don't see eye to eye. They're trying to protect this town just as much as I am, just as much as _you_ do. I mean, we're all trying to protect the town from invading ghosts, right? The only thing we all disagree on is how much trouble I cause." He jumped to his feet then and offered her a hand up, which she reluctantly took. "Just think about things a bit, Val. Without Vlad pushing you to keep hating my guts, we might actually be able to get along. We've called truces before. It shouldn't be that much of a stretch to continue them." He smiled at her, gave her a wave, and flew off.

Valerie, for her part, slumped back against the tree.

Phantom was a ghost. She shouldn't be _confiding_ in him like this. She shouldn't be turning to him for answers. She shouldn't be wondering if she could trust him, for goodness's sakes! She should be blasting him into next week.

But she couldn't.

Because his words made sense.

He'd talked with her, reasonably. Ghosts were supposed to follow a different set of principles, have a different type of logic, than humans. They weren't supposed to worry about humans. Their proclaimed territory, yes. The people within it? No. Only the ones they'd fixated on, and Phantom didn't seem to be obsessed with anyone in particular.

Two days ago, everything had made sense.

Now it didn't.

Now, she was turning to her enemy for advice, and she was going to take it and probably come back for more.

"I need to figure this out," Valerie muttered, pushing off the tree and reactivating her suit. A quick patrol, a nice flight, would help clear her head. It always had before.

Unfortunately, Valerie couldn't quite squash the feeling that this wasn't like _before_. This was different. New territory. And she was completely lost, unless she looked to her enemy for guidance. Again.

An enemy that she _knew_ was withholding things from her. She just didn't know what. Or how important it was. Or if this was all an elaborate trick on Phantom's part to manipulate her just like Vlad had. She didn't know anything, and she wasn't sure how accurate—or how censored—the information she was getting actually was.

Valerie had hardly cleared the treetops before the alarm went off in her suit that told her Vlad Masters was calling her. Warily, she turned her jet sled around and headed to his mansion. She wasn't looking forward to this. She was a good enough actor that no one had figured out she was the Red Huntress, but Vlad had always seemed to be able to see right through her.

Lay low, Phantom had said. Don't challenge him. Act normal.

She only hoped she could.


	3. Chapter 3

Danny slid into the booth at the Nasty Burger, opposite Sam and Tucker, hoping his friends would forgive him for being horribly late. They hadn't gotten any actual food yet, but Sam and Tucker had both ordered drinks and had positioned themselves so that they could see the door.

Sam cocked an eyebrow at him. "Ghosts?" she asked quietly.

"Klemper," Danny admitted, "but it was Valerie who really held me up."

Sam scowled. "You'd think she'd ease up a bit after helping you save Dani."

"She wasn't shooting," Danny said. "She wanted to talk. So we did."

"Talk?" The scepticism in Sam's voice couldn't be missed.

"She knows about Vlad."

Tucker, who had been drinking, nearly spewed soda all over Danny. "She _what_?" he gasped.

"I guess she went back after Dani and I left. She must have seen him change."

"Dude, Vlad's going to _kill_ you when he finds out!"

"It's not my fault!"

"Maybe not directly," Sam said, "but it's Vlad. He's going to blame you if Valerie knows. And you know what he's going to do when he finds out."

Yeah. Yeah, he did. Tell _his_ secret. He was so dead. "I told Valerie not to let him know she knows."

Sam snorted. "That won't last long. Valerie's not that good. She'll slip sometime." Sam glanced around, then said, "We'd better skip lunch." At Tucker's immediate protest—not to mention Danny's half-hearted one, since he still hadn't eaten even if he did have a feeling that he knew where she was coming from—Sam said, "We may be invisible, but the day we count on it is the day someone notices us. And, guys, with Danny's luck right now, I don't want to risk it."

"Thanks," Danny muttered sarcastically. He knew Sam was far from wrong, but it didn't stop him from getting to his feet with obvious reluctance.

They picked up the conversation again once they were safely outside but still kept the volume low so passersby wouldn't pick up on anything in particular. "We need to figure out what you're going to do when Valerie finds out, Danny," Sam said. "And when Vlad finds out Valerie knows about him."

"Yeah, 'cause Vlad would probably slaughter you if it was a full out battle," Tucker added.

Danny glared at him. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Tuck."

Tucker shrugged. "Someone has to say it."

"He's probably right, Danny," Sam said softly. "If Vlad doesn't hold back…."

Yeah. Danny knew that. Vlad had twenty years of experience, and if he wanted Danny dead, he could probably do it. He'd held off, as far as Danny could guess, because he still hoped that Danny would renounce his father and join him—_so_ not happening—or that he could get that mid-morph DNA sample he still so badly needed for a stable clone. Also not happening.

But if Vlad really decided to kill him? If he didn't hold back?

The only way Danny would have a hope of winning was if he didn't hold back, either. But he would. He always would. It wouldn't be consciously, necessarily, but he would. Because he was too afraid of what had happened, of what _could_ happen, if he didn't keep himself in check. He'd promised he would _never_ let himself go, never become the ghost he'd trapped in the thermos and left in Clockwork's care.

"Well, either you have to work on your flying speed or we need to teach Val how to act," Tucker said.

"She can act," Sam said. "I mean, no one else has figured out she's the Red Huntress, right? It's just that Vlad can see through a lot of stuff, and if he suspects she knows something—_any_thing, not necessarily his secret—he'll try to find out what it is, and he'll succeed eventually. We didn't have this problem with you, Danny. You were there, what, one night before he found out your secret?"

Danny sighed. "Never mind that. I'll talk to Valerie again. I just…. I just hope I can do it before she figures out my secret, even if Vlad doesn't tell her."

"She hasn't figured out your secret yet," Tucker pointed out, "and she sees you run out of class every day."

"Yeah, well, no one else in this town has figured out my secret, either, but after seeing Dani, Valerie's got a good shot. Especially if Vlad opens his mouth to drop so much as a hint." He paused. "And I, uh, sorta had to tell her about halfas. To explain Dani and Vlad."

"What?" Sam punched his arm. "What were you _thinking_?"

"I was thinking," Danny returned, rubbing his sore arm, "that she looked like she was driving herself crazy. After having Valerie on my tail for so long, I've seen her stressed. This wasn't just stress. Her conscience was catching up with her about the hunting thing. She was terrified she was going to kill someone. A human. I had to tell her Dani and Vlad were the only halfas."

"You know she's just going to go back to hunting you then, right?" Sam said. "Danny, you can't let your guard down."

"I'm not," Danny insisted. "Look, you didn't see her. And besides, she came to me to talk."

"Why?" Tucker asked. "She hates you. Just because she let you go because she figured you did some good with Dani doesn't erase the fact that she thinks you ruined her life."

"I know. I just…. I might be able to convince her to work with me. Now that she sees Vlad for who he really is, I mean."

Sam's eyes narrowed. "It's Valerie, Danny. She'd shoot Phantom as soon as look at him. You might have a huge belief in the goodness of human nature, but that's pushing it."

"But that's my point. She _didn't_ shoot."

"So? She was using you to get information. Doesn't mean you shouldn't watch your back once she's convinced that's all you're going to tell her."

"Sam's got a point, man. Val's always gone back to hunting you after you guys have called a truce."

"But this time is different," Danny insisted.

"No," Sam countered. "You just want it to be different. You'll be dodging her shots in a week, Danny. You're reading too much into this. Your main concern is Vlad, not Valerie."

"Yeah, Valerie's going to be more of a problem once Vlad blows your secret." Sam punched Tucker at these words, and Tucker yelped. "What was that for?"

"Not helping," was all Sam said.

Danny groaned. "Okay, fine, so Vlad's probably my bigger problem if he thinks I'm the one who told Valerie, once he figures out she knows, and Valerie would shoot me as soon as look at me in ghost mode. I get it. I just…. You guys weren't there. You didn't see her."

"You think she's going soft?" Tucker guessed.

Danny made a noncommittal noise, knowing if he agreed, Sam would just point out that Valerie was, in all likelihood, trying to lure him into a false sense of security. "I think I should talk to her again."

"You might be better off avoiding her," Tucker pointed out. "You know, in case she's back to being gun-happy next time you cross her."

"I think I should take that risk," Danny said, purposely not looking at Sam. She huffed but didn't argue with him. She'd been his friend long enough to know when arguing was a lost cause.

"I hope you know what you're doing," Sam muttered.

Danny hoped he did, too.

* * *

_Keep calm. Keep it together. It's fine. It's cool. It's good. Vlad did not try to melt down an innocent girl. That was Plasmius. Vlad…is Plasmius…._

Okay, that wasn't working. Well, she already knew that. She'd never been able to lie to herself, not for very long. That's why she was having so much trouble now. Plasmius was the evil mastermind of a manipulator who had used her to try to kill an innocent girl, and her hated enemy, Phantom, had done the right thing and had saved her.

God, how she missed the early days when ghost hunting had been easy. Back when everything had been black and white, not shades of grey. But she knew things hadn't really been simple back then, either. She just hadn't seen how complicated everything truly was, and now she couldn't forget.

She entered Vlad's study through the window as she always did these days and dropped lightly to the carpeted floor as her sled retracted. "Ghost trouble?" she asked, relieved that her voice didn't betray her mixed feelings.

"Ah, Valerie," Vlad said, his voice as oily smooth as it always was. "I was wondering how you were recovering after the unfortunate incident two days ago."

Unfortunate incident? He made it sound like an accident. "I'm fine, Mr. Masters." She paused, then added suddenly, "Oh, I'm sorry! That evil ghost had you locked up. I forgot all about—"

Vlad was waving her off. "My staff released me. You don't need to worry, my dear girl. Did you manage to rescue the poor girl Plasmius had captured?"

"Phantom and I did," Valerie admitted. "Mr. Masters, pardon me for saying, but Dani Phantom didn't seem as…evil as you'd said."

"Yes, it appears that my information was unreliable. I'm terribly sorry about that. It's the first false information I've ever received from that particular source. I'm sure it won't happen again."

That was it. An opening. Maybe the only one she'd get. _Lie_, Phantom had said, _but make sure it's a good one, because he'll check._ The best lies, Valerie had learned, were made mostly of the truth.

Of course, it also helped to be a bit prepared and to get the story straight, but she'd had to wing it a lot since she'd taken up ghost hunting—especially before her dad had known about it. "Mr. Masters," she started, hesitant again, "I don't want to sound ungrateful or anything, because I'm really not, but I don't know…. I don't know if I can risk something like that happening again."

"Oh, you needn't worry, my dear. It won't."

"You can't guarantee that," Valerie said in a small voice, knowing her words were true. _Don't challenge him_, Phantom had said. But she had to. This was the only way to get out of it. "I mean, no one can, right? You couldn't have known about something like that. I just…. I need a bit of a break, after that. I mean, I almost helped a ghost murder a girl. I…I can't…."

"That's quite understandable," Vlad said smoothly. "You were a pawn in a ghost's scheme, as was I. It was my misfortune for not realizing something was wrong earlier. But I must urge you to reconsider, Valerie. A true ghost hunter does not let a minor setback such as this drive her from her work."

Minor setback? Valerie knew this was supposed to get on her nerves, to make her stiffen and renew her resolve, her anger. To want to prove to Vlad that she _was_ a true ghost hunter. She straightened, but after a few seconds, sagged again. "I can't," she said. "Not now. Remember how I told you my dad found out? He keeps hounding me to give this up. He doesn't understand, but he's right. My schoolwork is suffering, Mr. Masters, and I still want to get into college in a few years. I can't let this consume me."

Vlad raised his eyebrows. "My dear girl, you've hardly had a C all semester. That's not exactly suffering."

He had access to her grades? That had to be illegal, right? But Valerie forced an apologetic smile onto her face. "It's not bad," she admitted, "but I used to be better. You're a businessman. You must keep yourself to a higher standard than other people do." Or rather, a lower standard. Manipulating, deceptive scumbag. How had she been fooled by this guy?

Because she'd been blinded by her hatred for Phantom and, by extension, her hatred of all ghosts. Because her life had spiralled out of control, and ghost hunting had given her a way to regain some of her self-esteem, and when she'd found out that Vlad had been the one helping her, she'd been grateful. When he'd begun to ask her favours, she'd been happy to repay him. Wasn't like he ever asked much. Catch the Box Ghost before he tore apart a warehouse, test out a few new weapons on Phantom…. Go after Dani Phantom.

There had to be some connection she was missing. Valerie wasn't stupid; she knew when she didn't have the whole story. She just wasn't sure where to dig to figure out the truth. Phantom had a connection with Dani, obviously, which was probably why they claimed to be 'adopted cousins' or whatever. And Vlad was the same as Dani. A halfa, Phantom had said. Something rare.

And if Vlad had been around for so long, and since he was an inventor, and since he'd tried to, well, kill Dani…. Maybe he'd created her, too. Turned her into something like him, just so he could study her. Phantom had as good as told her that halfas were created. All he knew, he'd said, was that it took an awful lot of ecto-energy to do it. And Vlad would have access to a lot of ecto-energy. It was a possibility she couldn't ignore.

If his little experiment had run away, maybe he'd wanted to recapture her before she could tell anyone about him.

He wanted to kill her, to melt her into goo, because of what she was and what she could say.

The thought made Valerie feel sick.

"I'd hate to see you fall out of practice," Vlad said, his voice almost a purr. "You have so much potential, Valerie. It would be a shame to let it go to waste."

He was just trying to goad her. She knew that. He wanted her angry. He wanted her irrational, like before. He wanted her focussed on ghost hunting, not on Dani, because Dani was too close to the truth. And breaks, well, they gave people time to think about things. Time to put two and two together. Time Vlad wasn't sure he could afford.

She had to be careful.

"I don't mean altogether," Valerie said, though that had been her original intention. "Just…not on call, you know? And I don't have to go after every ghost I see. I mean, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton are ghost hunters, too, and they helped to keep things in check before I even started. I just…. I can't let my dad down, Mr. Masters. I've already got my job at the Nasty Burger eating up my time, and if I keep using the rest of it to fight ghosts, I won't be able to improve my schoolwork. And Daddy's counting on me." _And I need a break._

Vlad gave her a calculating look, but at last he nodded sharply. "Of course, my dear girl. I do respect your wishes and those of your father. You may consider yourself temporarily free of your obligation to me and of my services, until such time that you appear to have recovered."

Temporarily free. He intended to get her back, then. But he'd also said that, so long as she wasn't on call, she wasn't getting any more from him. No more quick replacements if anything got fried in a ghost fight, then. Not that she intended to do a lot of ghost fighting, even keeping in mind what Phantom had said. She needed to check it out herself, after all. She couldn't completely trust a ghost. After all, he was a ghost.

"Thank you, Mr. Masters."

"You're quite welcome. You may go."

Valerie left as quickly as she could without it being obvious that she was all too happy to get out of there. This was still…. It was hard. Things didn't make sense. She needed someone to talk to.

Trouble was, she didn't have anyone. Not really. She could tell her dad she planned on easing up on the ghost hunting a bit. He'd be happy about that, seeing as he still wanted her to quit altogether so he knew she wouldn't be putting herself in danger. She'd known it was dangerous, though. She'd accepted the risks, quite happily. It was a battle for the safety of Amity Park. There'd been…not glory, because no one knew who she was, but…satisfaction. There'd been satisfaction in it. Because she was doing the right thing.

That wasn't far off Phantom's argument, though.

Valerie gave her head an abrupt shake, trying to dislodge her thoughts. No, she was _not_ going to go running to Phantom right away. She needed to do research first. She needed some additional proof that he wasn't inventing everything he was telling her.

But how the heck could she actually do any research? Phantom was the only ghost she could remember ever not fighting her, besides Dani. He was the best one to talk to, when it came to just talking to ghosts.

And she couldn't exactly ask any humans about half ghosts. They'd think she was nuts. Or Vlad would find out, somehow.

Maybe…maybe there was someone she could talk to without actually telling them anything. A friend.

But who was she friends with now? Really friends? People she actually talked to outside of class? She'd spent half a year practically pushing people away, or at least anyone who had talked to her after she'd lost her spot on the A-list.

Valerie headed for the park, aiming for the trees. She'd lose the suit and then go for a walk. Since flying didn't clear her head, maybe that would.

"I don't know what to do," Valerie whispered, once she was safely on the ground and out of her disguise. The last actual person she'd really talked to—_really _talked to—besides her dad was probably Danny Fenton.

And then she'd broken up with him, and she had a horrible feeling that he'd been about to ask her to go steady with him or something. Judging by his reaction, anyway. He'd acted cool, but she'd peeked back around the corner, and he'd seemed…more dejected than she did, and she still felt horrible about that, too. Because she'd only done it because Phantom had shown her how risky this was and how anyone she let get too close to her might get hurt. She'd figured Phantom might….

She hadn't wanted Danny to get hurt. For all that his was a family of ghost hunters, he hadn't really seemed too inclined to follow in their footsteps. She'd respected that, his wanting to be an astronaut. Admired it, really. Especially after she'd met his dad. It would be hard to take your own path with someone like him trying to drag you down the one he'd taken.

It was almost funny how much things had changed. She'd liked dating Danny, but she'd broken it off because she didn't want Phantom—or any other ghost, for that matter—to hurt him. Now, when there wasn't really anyone her age that she confided in, she found herself faced with a horrendous dilemma and she was asking her enemy for advice. And the only person her age she thought she might be able to talk about ghosts to without actually spilling her secrets was Danny, but she wasn't even sure she could, now.

She'd known that ghost hunting was starting to take over her life. She was obsessive. She got that. That was a tiny part of the reason she was stopping now, or at least cutting back. But she was so late in doing so that she wasn't sure…. She didn't have much left.

Sam and Tucker hadn't entirely thawed to her ever, though she never knew why they resented her so much. She supposed they both had their reasons. She'd been little better than Vlad when she'd dated Tucker in an attempt to get more information about ghosts, and she wouldn't deny that that was how it had started with Danny. It hadn't stayed that way, of course; it hadn't taken her long to realize what a great guy he actually was. But she knew Sam liked Danny—_liked _liked him—but just wouldn't admit it, so she'd been jealous and probably still hadn't actually forgiven Valerie for making a move on Danny, despite the fair warning she'd been given.

But Danny Fenton, well, he'd always been nice to her, even when she hadn't taken the time to notice.

She didn't want to try to pick up where she'd left off, but she wouldn't mind talking to him again. Like they used to. She'd told Danny a bit about herself back then, and he'd done the same, and they'd really hit it off. They could still be friends if she spent more time with him. If Sam and Tucker let him and she didn't blow it again. Maybe, if she made it clear to Sam that she wasn't trying to move in on Danny again, the four of them could even spend time together. She wasn't sure she could bring up anything even resembling her dilemma with all three of them, but it might be easier to get Danny alone at some point.

He could keep a secret, she was sure, if she found that she had to tell him.

She didn't want to, but….

But she needed someone. Someone her age, not her dad. And the only other people who knew about her were Vlad and Phantom.

Danny had kept her secret about being stuck as Ned the Nasty Burger Mascot, even after she'd worked her way up to a cashier position. If she needed him to, he would keep this secret, too. She definitely wouldn't tell him about Vlad. He probably wouldn't believe her anyway, even if he didn't particularly like the guy. But she was starting to think that maybe she really had bitten off more than she could chew, and if she was going to tell someone, it would have to be someone she could trust.

And she trusted Danny. And, after that incident with Penelope Spectra being a therapist at Casper High, she definitely didn't trust therapists. She'd talk to Danny's sister Jazz before she'd say a word to any adult besides her dad.

But…. Oh, God, if Vlad was a ghost, and not just any ghost, but _Plasmius_, then…. She'd seen Phantom fight the guy. She'd fought with them both on occasion, when they'd been up against a greater enemy. Phantom was right. Since Vlad was Plasmius, he could cream her. And, as a ghost, he could follow her and she wouldn't know. Not if he could recalibrate her equipment remotely so it didn't pick him up, anyway. She wouldn't put it past him. And, for all she knew, he might've already done it. She'd never tried to pick up Plasmius specifically before. Her main focus had been Phantom. Any other ghost who crossed her path was always just a bonus. Bait, she'd figured. More reason for Phantom to show.

What if she tried to talk to Danny and Vlad took it out on him? She might be in exactly the same position as before and never even know about it.

Valerie groaned. "I can't do this," she mumbled. "Not anymore."

Forget walking. Valerie sunk to the ground and leaned against a tree. This was harder than she'd thought it would be, and it was becoming clearer than ever that she was on her own. Things had gotten complicated. It was sink or swim, and she had no one to throw her a lifesaver. She was on her own.


	4. Chapter 4

"You think he's going to make the first move?"

It took Valerie a minute to place the voice, once she even realized someone was talking. It almost sounded like Tucker. But she already couldn't remember what he'd said, if it had been him, because she hadn't really been listening. And, anyway, no one was talking to her.

But someone was coming. She could hear footsteps, the crunching of leaves and twigs and stuff. Not to mention, if she listened, pieces of a conversation.

"I dunno. It's kind of hard to tell. Usually if he does, I can't tell anyway. Not until I've started playing into his hands."

That was Danny. She'd recognize his voice anywhere. So that meant it had to be Tucker with him. And where those two went—

"Then be on your guard. Don't let on that you suspect anything. Heck, just plain avoid him. That's not much different from what you normally do, anyway."

And where those two went, Sam was sure to follow. Assuming she wasn't the one leading them in the first place, which she probably was.

"I know, I know. I just…. He knows what buttons to push, I guess. I don't want to forget myself."

"You're getting better, Danny." Sam again. "And you won't forget yourself. You're not that kind of person. You're not _him_. Besides, we'll always be here for you."

"Yeah, man. We've got your back."

Valerie froze as the voices came closer, unsure of whether to scramble to her feet or stay where she was and hope that they didn't see her. She didn't want to eavesdrop, but she didn't want to really admit that she'd already been as good as caught eavesdropping, either. For a split second, she _almost_ wished she could be like a ghost and just disappear. It would be _so_ much easier.

"But if he finds out…." Danny's voice trailed off. "How the heck can I counter that? He'll tell everyone—"

"And you'll tell them about him," Tucker put in helpfully.

"Who'd believe me?" Danny asked glumly. "He'd anticipate that and be two steps ahead of me and just frame me for something and then I'll get locked up and—"

"We won't let that happen," Sam cut in fiercely.

"Yeah." Tucker again. "Besides, your parents might not freak. They didn't last time."

"Last time isn't this time," Danny whispered, so softly that Valerie hardly heard it.

A sigh, followed by Sam's voice. "You know, I kind of hate to admit it, but you might be right about Valerie."

"Right about what?" Valerie whispered, horrified that she was hearing this but intensely curious now that she knew she was part of whatever they were talking about. She sunk lower to the ground, trying to be as invisible as humanly possible. A small part of her mind scolded her for staying in the first place, insisting she should never have heard this, that she shouldn't be listening. But she couldn't block out their voices now—they had to be practically on top of her—and, whether she liked it or not, she wanted to know what they were going to say.

"Sam, admitting she's wrong? Let me get my tape recorder—"

"Shut up, Tucker. I'm serious." A pause. "Danny, you and Tuck are my best friends. I don't want anyone to ruin that. And Valerie…."

Valerie, as far as Sam Manson was concerned, would always be a threat. Valerie knew that. But this wasn't just about Danny's feelings, was it? The goth girl sure wasn't admitting hers, but if it was only about teenage love triangles, then they were blowing things way out of proportion. If her ghost trouble had done anything besides ruining her life, it had given her insight into what was important.

But mishaps in teenage romance didn't land you in jail, and Danny had been worried that he'd get locked up. But he couldn't be involved in anything that dangerous. It was Danny Fenton, for goodness' sake. She'd go to the prom with Nester before Danny would purposefully do anything that would land him in jail.

So what the heck were they up to, and why did they think _she_ had anything to do with it?

"I'll be careful. You know that."

"I know, Danny. But I'm trying to trust your judgement here, and you don't have the best track record."

"For the record," Tucker piped in, "he's over Paulina."

"That's not what this is about!"

"It's okay, Sam. Valerie won't shoot me."

Shoot him? Why the heck would she possibly want to _shoot_ Danny Fenton? What would even give them that idea? She'd _never_ raise a gun to another human being. Where were they expecting her to get one, anyway? It's not like her dad left his stuff lying around, and she'd never dream of trying to steal anything from him, anyway.

And from the way they were talking about this, they definitely didn't mean shooting as in taking pictures.

"So you keep saying." Another pause, this one lengthier than the last. They passed her by in silence, and Valerie wasn't sure they were going to keep talking. Finally, Sam began again, saying, "I'm not going to try to stop you from talking to her again, Danny, and I get that you don't want us hanging out in the wings. Just tell us when you're going and check in immediately once you're back, okay? I don't want this to blow up in our faces."

"It won't," Danny insisted. "Not because of Val, anyway. I promise."

"Don't make promises you can't keep," Sam said softly.

This time, the silence stretched on.

* * *

Valerie spent the afternoon sitting on a bench in the park, staring at the same page in the open book in front of her. She wasn't really sure what to think anymore. Vlad Masters was half ghost, she'd had a decent conversation with Danny Phantom, Danny Fenton was wrapped up in something that might land him in jail, and Sam and Tucker thought she was going to shoot their best friend.

The last one really got her. She didn't have anything against Danny, and she couldn't think of any reason that they would think she would. Sure, she'd broken up with him, but that had been ages ago, and as far as she knew, there weren't any hard feelings. Maybe it had something to do with whatever trouble Danny was in?

But how the heck could Danny Fenton, of all people, get into _that_ kind of trouble? And even if he had, there should be absolutely no reason that they'd think she'd…that she'd ever even….

"I don't know what's going on," Valerie admitted quietly. "I don't know what to do."

A faint beeping from the bag at her side alerted her to a ghost within range, but she ignored it.

Finding out that everything was a set-up, that Vlad wasn't at all who she'd thought he was, had taken a bit of wind out of her sails, and her encounter with Klemper had shaken her more than she cared to admit. Phantom's words that Dani and Vlad were the only ones…. She wanted to trust him, to trust that he was telling her the truth. For once in her life, she desperately wanted to trust a ghost. But something besides prejudice was holding her back.

Her gut still said he'd been lying to her, and she couldn't bring herself to ignore the feeling that had been right so often before when it meant trusting someone who hadn't really given her any reason to do so.

For all she knew, Phantom had lied to her so she kept hunting ghosts down. While she viewed him as prey, she figured he viewed her as competition. He didn't want to lose a rival. Or maybe he didn't want to do all the work himself. He was happy to see his enemies fall at her hand.

A few days ago, she might have been able to convince herself of that.

But the truth was, she didn't know much about Phantom. For all that she'd been obsessed with hunting him, for all that she'd spent months trying to track him and observe him and blast him into oblivion, she'd found out more _about_ him from their conversation this morning than she ever had before.

Amity Park was his haunt. Yeah, she'd figured that. He'd lived here, he'd said. He'd died here. He was attached to it, so he tried to protect it. But if he had such a connection with the town, how come he had only turned up relatively recently? He hadn't been haunting this place for years. And if he'd been stuck in the Ghost Zone like the rest of the ghosts until the Fentons had created their portal, then why come through now and protect it with such fervour? Amity Park would have changed. Some things should be completely unrecognizable to him.

Yet he treated everything with a familiarity that takes years to form—years that he shouldn't have had.

So if he hadn't died fifty years ago or something like Sydney Poindexter, the one who had been the most well-known ghost in Casper High before Phantom had come along, then he should have died recently. But if he had, wouldn't someone have figured out who he was? Who he had been? Ghosts weren't _that_ unrecognizable from who they had been as humans.

Of course, in all the years she'd lived here, she couldn't remember a kid dying. Not someone who looked to be like Phantom's age, anyway.

The beeping in her bag grew louder, the sounds coming closer together as the ghost came nearer.

Maybe she'd get lucky. Maybe it was an ectopus that she _could_ shoot at without wondering if she was making the wrong decision. Ghost hunting had become a point of focus for her over these past few months, and it helped her to clear her head. Well, it had always helped until now.

It figured that ghosts would tear apart her life again just as soon as she'd managed to settle into things, get into a routine that she liked, that worked, that—

"How are you holding up?"

Valerie slammed the book shut and whirled, coming face to face with none other than Danny Phantom. "Don't _do_ that!" she hissed.

Phantom gave her a goofy grin. "Sorry. I guess spooking people kinda comes with the territory. Seriously, though, before you pull out any guns—how are you holding up?"

"Why do you care?"

Phantom raised an eyebrow at her sour tone. "Geez, I'm just trying to be nice. I thought the fact that we were talking instead of you shooting and me dodging meant there might be some improvement in our relationship."

"_Relationship_?"

Phantom immediately held up both hands, looking like he hoped to placate her. "I didn't mean it like that," he said immediately. "I just…. We can work together, can't we? You know, call a truce and keep it?" It was the same thing he'd asked her to think about earlier. As if a few measly hours were enough to sort something like this out.

Valerie shoved her book in her bag, happy to use it as an excuse to look away. "I don't know."

"You don't know?" Phantom was incredulous. "What's not to know?"

And that was why Phantom _really_ annoyed her. He was as clueless as any teenage boy, thinking the world centred around him, and with him being what he was, it was that much more dangerous. She'd seen what he could do when he got the wrong idea in his head, when he was trying to be noble, when he got angry…. "I can't trust you."

"You haven't even tried."

"Yeah? What about the thing with Dani? I let you go. That took trust, didn't it?"

"I would've thought so," Phantom said softly, "but I also thought that worked out. I wouldn't be using that as an excuse not to trust you if the situation were reversed."

"It's not an excuse," insisted Valerie. "It's…. Oh, never mind. You wouldn't understand anyway."

"Can't you at least try me before judging me?"

"It's not exactly a snap judgement!" Valerie retorted, turning to face him again.

Phantom stared at her for a moment. Then, "Give me a second chance."

Valerie pursed her lips. "Those need to be earned."

Phantom threw up his hands. "Then how the heck do I earn one? I'm just trying to be a good guy, okay? I'm trying to help people, and I was trying to help you. If doing the right thing can't earn me a second chance to make a better impression on you, then what can?"

"If you need to ask, then you probably don't deserve one."

Phantom sighed. "I get that you're still bitter about what's happened in the past between us, Valerie. I just don't think you need to hold a grudge against me for something that's not my fault—or things I did that were for your own good."

He was talking about when he'd revealed her to her father. He'd kept her secret until then and he'd kept it since, but he'd been the one to expose her to the one person who could stop her from saving people.

And then he'd taken her place.

Maybe it was just to protect what he considered to be his, like she'd always figured.

But maybe it wasn't.

Why did it have to take something like this to make her realize that she'd pushed away all her friends, that she had no one to confide in?

"Fine," Valerie said, clenching her fists. "I'll give you a second chance. But you've gotta earn it, like I said."

Phantom considered this for a moment. "What do you want me to do?"

"Protect someone," Valerie said quietly. "I just…. I want to talk to someone, and I don't want him to get in trouble for it."

"For talking to you?" Phantom asked, looking sceptical.

"I'm not putting anything past Mr. Masters," Valerie explained, still keeping her voice down.

Phantom opened his mouth, hesitated, and then said, slowly, "I can't make any promises. Vlad's tried bugging me before, and I haven't always noticed."

Phantom was making assumptions again, but this time, at least, he was right. "I want to confide in someone," Valerie said, hardly believing that she was saying this to a ghost, "and I don't want him getting hurt because of it."

"You can confide in me," Phantom offered. "It's not like I'm going to tell anyone, least of all Vlad."

Valerie snorted. "You haven't earned that much trust," she said shortly. "And despite what you told me before, I'm not convinced that you're being completely honest with me."

Phantom flinched, giving Valerie all the more reason to think that she was right: he'd lied to her about something before. "Who did you want me to look out for? Bearing in mind," he added quickly, "that I can't be in two places at once or anything, so if anything bad does happen to this person, you can't necessarily hold me responsible."

"If you can convince me that you're doing your best, I'll be happy," Valerie allowed. Part of her still wanted to shoot Phantom on sight, so it was hard for her to really believe that she was doing this. That she was letting herself do this. That she was trusting a ghost and placing someone's life…. She wouldn't think about it like that. "Just don't let him know you're watching him, okay? I don't know how he'd take it."

Phantom crossed his arms. "Can I reserve the right to refuse this request if this person turns out to be someone like you who would shoot me on sight? I mean, yeah, you're asking me to be a body guard for a while until things settle down with Vlad, but you're also asking me to follow someone, and I know you'd try to kill me before letting me attempt to protect you that way."

Valerie narrowed her eyes. "It's Danny Fenton."

Phantom blinked. "Danny Fenton?" he repeated.

"Is that a problem?"

"Well, no, but, uh…. Why him?"

Like she'd tell him. "Let's just say it's an incentive to be careful, because if his parents find out, I won't be held responsible for their actions."

Phantom rolled his eyes. "If you're planning on dropping a hint—"

"I'm not," Valerie said, "but that doesn't mean I won't if I have to. If you hurt him…."

"I won't." Her unspoken threat didn't seem to faze Phantom. "You have my word."

"For whatever that's worth," Valerie muttered. She didn't realize that she'd glanced away until her eyes flicked back to Phantom and found him gone.

She shouldn't expect anything else from a ghost. At least he'd heard her out this long. But then again, he was trying to get in her good books. She wasn't entirely sure why, unless it was just to get her off his back. But maybe he did just want to call a truce, to work with her instead of against her. The times they'd done it before had worked out well. And now that she knew about Danielle, and everything that Phantom had been willing to give up to save her….

Given how angry she was about Vlad, it shouldn't be so hard to do. Like Phantom had said, it was an enemy-of-my-enemy thing. If they both stood against Vlad, then they stood together. As allies, if not as friends.

But she was _scared_.

And Valerie Gray didn't do scared. She took care of herself. She could fend for herself. She could defend herself. She could protect herself. She'd faced her fears, keeping a stiff upper lip and putting on a mask whenever things weren't as good as she wished they were. She never let anyone see how bad things were. In recent years, even her father hadn't seen everything that she really felt.

Sure, she'd come close when Phantom and his dog—Cujo—had lost her father his job and ruined her life. But then she'd been angry. Bitter. Resentful. She'd taken the offensive, not the defensive.

With Mr. Masters, taking the offensive wasn't an option.

And, now that she knew Masters and Plasmius were one and the same, she wasn't sure she could defend herself. Ghost weaponry didn't help when the source turned out to be the prey. He would know all the weaknesses of the weapons better than she did, and he'd be able to exploit them. She was up against someone she couldn't fight.

Walking away wasn't something she could do forever. This wasn't something she could just leave behind. It would catch up with her, and then she'd have to deal with the consequences. Somehow.

She didn't want to involve Danny. It was dangerous, and she knew she would be putting him in danger just by talking to him, even if she didn't tell him any actual details. But she knew she couldn't do this alone, and she didn't want to drag her father into this. She had to involve someone, and it had to be someone she could trust.

But with that criteria, she could never involve anyone. Not unless she was willing to take risks that weren't hers to take.

So that's where Phantom came in.

Oh, she'd worry about that, too. But if he was desperate to prove to her that he could be trusted, then this was a suitable test. She wouldn't forgive herself if Danny got hurt as a result, but she knew if she had to place a bet where there was a good deal of risk involved, Danny was her best choice. It would force Phantom to be discreet, and if he so much as toed the line, she had no doubt Jack and Maddie Fenton would spring into action. If they got the faintest whiff that there was something ghost-related going on with their son, it wouldn't take them long to catch Phantom in the act.

If Phantom ratted her out, then she'd have an excuse never to trust him. She wasn't worried about Danny's parents; it wouldn't be hard to convince them that Phantom was lying through his teeth, and any guilt she felt about lying when she told the Fentons she had no idea why Phantom would make such outrageous claims could be justified by Phantom's betrayal. And Phantom would definitely get his just desserts when the Fentons caught him.

However she tried to justify it, though, it still came down to the same thing. This situation made her feel like a lost little kid who didn't know what to do, and she hated that. Even more, she hated the fact that she was willing to risk someone's life for her own selfish reasons. Using Phantom as a precaution, a pathetic attempt to ensure that nothing happened, was more to assuage her conscience than anything else. Though she'd admit that that didn't really work, considering what Phantom was and how she felt about him.

"This is nuts," Valerie muttered. "I'm not even thinking straight anymore."

But if her mind wasn't busy trying to sort out the mess with Phantom or the disastrous news about Mr. Masters, it invariably strayed back to the conversation she'd overheard between Danny and his friends. Daddy had always told her about the dangers of eavesdropping, but this….

This was….

It was crazy. Nuts. She never would've dreamed she'd hear something like this. It didn't even make any sense.

Of course, private conversations that definitely weren't meant for your ears probably never did.

She'd never gotten any indication that Danny Fenton was wrapped up in something as big and secretive as this must be when she'd been dating him. That didn't mean he hadn't been, of course. He hadn't realized that she was the Red Huntress, after all. And if Danny was involved in something, there was always the chance that it had happened after she'd dumped him.

But then again, she wasn't sure if she wanted to know about this. She wasn't supposed to. Yet at the same time, while the whole thing seemed so out of character for Danny Fenton, so counterintuitive, it didn't make her want to think twice about telling him anything. She still wanted to talk to him. Because he was Danny. And she trusted past experiences—past actions—a good deal more than she did overheard conversations. She was probably just misinterpreting the entire thing.

She had to be. It was Danny Fenton. It…. She had to have something wrong.

Maybe she should just try to find Danny and talk to him now. Sitting here with only her thoughts for company certainly wasn't helping matters. There was a slight chance that Danny would be home—or at least heading home—now from Sam's or Tucker's or wherever those three had been going when she'd run into them. She could swing by the Fenton household and see if she could catch him.

She could also phone him, but that would mean she'd need something to say. And she wasn't sure what she could say. Not yet. She was just sort of hoping the words would come when she was finally faced with him.

Besides, Phantom's quick disappearance might mean that he'd already started 'guard duty', as he'd put it. She could check up on him. Make sure he was undetectable. Subtle, like she'd requested.

Of course, the downside to what she'd asked Phantom to do meant that she would never truly be alone with Danny. Not if Phantom was close enough to overhear them. But he knew most of the situation anyway, and he wouldn't necessarily understand the rest of it. The bits where she was trying to figure out what she was feeling. But Danny…Danny might, even if he didn't have all the facts.

And if the price of making sure Vlad Plasmius didn't get to Danny meant that Phantom overheard a few things, then fine. She'd be willing to pay that. Phantom's discretion with the whole matter could be used as another sign of his trust, anyway. Maybe, if this worked out, if she managed to tell Danny everything and if he helped her sort through the impossible…. Maybe, just maybe, she'd be able to move on with her life a bit.

If Phantom managed to live up to her expectations, then he would definitely earn that second chance he'd wanted. And she'd…. She'd give it to him, no questions asked. So long as he made sure Danny got through this okay.

Phantom was right; if Vlad found out that she knew his secret and she tried to fight him, he'd cream her. He was also right when he said that she was expendable and that Vlad had no scruples. But she'd gotten herself into this. She might not have thought it all through as well as she should have, but she was willing to accept the consequences for her own actions. But only if she was the only one to pay the price.

She didn't want anyone else she involved getting hurt.

And the decision to involve Danny Fenton, well…. It hadn't been concrete until she'd made the deal with Phantom. And now that it was, she didn't really want to consider any other option.

There hadn't really been any other option, anyway.

Not unless she'd considered Phantom's ridiculous offer.

"I'm sorry, Danny," Valerie whispered as she stood up and grabbed her bag from the bench. It didn't matter that he couldn't hear her, that he'd never know what she was saying. She just had to say it. "I know I should have left you out of this, but I…. I need someone. I hope you'll understand."

Somehow, inexplicable as it was, she was sure he would.


	5. Chapter 5

Danny didn't tell Sam and Tucker everything Valerie had said to him before making an excuse to get home. He had a feeling that Val might want to talk sooner rather than later, and he was pretty sure she'd be a lot more open to him as Fenton than as Phantom even if she didn't exactly explain everything to him. Besides, even when the four of them had hung out, there had always been a definite divide between Valerie and Sam and Tucker. He hadn't been really sure how to bridge that then, and he wasn't really sure now.

But he was home when Valerie knocked on the door, and that's what mattered. Jazz was the one to answer it, and she gave him a look but filed her questions away for later. "I'll tell Mom and Dad you went out," she said as he joined Valerie at the door.

"Thanks, Jazz," Danny said.

"Just don't do anything stupid," she called as she flopped back down on a chair and picked up her psychology book.

"Whatever happened to 'have fun'?" Danny muttered under his breath. But he grinned at Valerie, and she smiled back.

"Hey," she said. "Thanks for hanging out on short notice."

"It's been a while," Danny admitted, closing the door behind him and starting off.

Valerie fiddled with her hands as she walked. "Well, Sam and Tucker still don't really…like me. Especially Sam."

"They just don't know you well enough," Danny countered.

Valerie smiled. "Thanks, Danny. You always see the best in people."

Danny was happy to let Valerie take the lead, keeping in step with her and waiting for her to make the first move. As the silence threatened to stretch into an awkward one, however, he broke it. "How are things going with you?"

"Good," Valerie answered automatically. "You?"

"Same."

And the silence returned.

He knew Valerie was probably trying to figure out what to say and when to say it, but he couldn't think of anything that would give her a good opening. He tried the small talk thing a few more times before realizing that it would only make Valerie decide this was a bad idea after all. He didn't really want her trying to deal with this on her own, but he was pretty sure she would. He wasn't sure what thought process she'd gone through to choose him to confide in, but he was pretty sure she wouldn't try again.

So, if she wouldn't talk to Phantom, he'd have to convince her that she wasn't making a mistake by telling Fenton. "Did you, uh, have anything specific you wanted to do?" he asked.

"Not really," Valerie admitted.

That evidently meant, 'Yes, but I don't know how to go about it, so I'll pretend I don't'. "Are you just up for a walk, then?" Danny suggested. "In the park or something?"

"That'd be great," Valerie said, jumping on the suggestion. "We can, you know, talk."

There it was. But he probably shouldn't push her yet. It was highly unlikely he'd get a straight answer if he asked her now what she wanted to talk about. But he wasn't Jazz; he didn't know how to talk to people. Especially girls. Even if it wasn't…like that.

"I know I shouldn't bring this up," Valerie said slowly as they started over to the park. "I mean, you've probably heard it a million times before. I just…."

Okay, even without the knowledge he had from being Phantom, he could've figured this one out. "Ghosts, huh?"

"I'm sorry," Valerie said. "I mean, you must get it a lot, and it's not really fair that—"

"It's fine, Val. Shoot. I'll answer if I can."

"Your parents tell you a lot about ghosts, right?"

Danny snorted. "Do you think I could avoid it?"

Valerie smirked. "True. Just…what do you think of them?"

Danny raised an eyebrow. "It kind of depends on the ghost, doesn't it?"

"How can it depend on the ghost?"

The incredulity in Valerie's voice reminded Danny precisely who he was talking to. "Well," he started carefully, "the Box Ghost doesn't seem too threatening. He's more annoying than anything else. You wouldn't put him in the same class as the Fright Knight, would you? As far as ghosts go, he's loads scarier. And he does more damage whenever he shows up."

"So what about Phantom?"

Danny slowed his step a bit and glanced at Valerie. "I'm guessing from your tone that you don't like him," he said slowly.

"And you do," she surmised.

"He has his faults," Danny said quickly. "I'll be the first to admit that. But I'm pretty sure he tries to be the good guy. He's saved the town before."

"So have your parents. And the Red Huntress."

"But not to the same level," Danny pointed out, coming to a full stop and facing Valerie. "You've got to admit that. Don't get me wrong; they've gotten close. And if Phantom weren't here, I have no doubt that they'd step up and take his place. But my parents and the Red Huntress…they're just humans, Val, fighting against ghosts. They're at a disadvantage. Whether they admit it or not, they're vulnerable, no matter how many weapons they've got. I think Phantom knows that. I think he tries to put himself in the line of fire so that he gets the worst of it. So that no human gets seriously hurt."

"Phantom's shot at people," Valerie reminded him.

"I'm sure he had his reasons," Danny said, "if anyone listened to him explain them."

"You don't know that."

"And do you know that he doesn't? I'm just trying to give him the benefit of the doubt, Valerie. Actions speak louder than words, and while Phantom's done his share of undesirable stuff, he's done a lot of good, too. I give him credit for that. More than my parents do."

Valerie gave him a sceptical look. "You support him because your parents don't?"

"No. I support him for the reasons I said. He hasn't given me a good reason not to."

"He's given me one," Valerie muttered.

"Can I ask what happened?"

"He ruined my life," Valerie said, starting off again. Danny had to jog to catch up with her.

"How?" Danny asked, even though he knew the answer perfectly well. Valerie's telling of the story to Fenton wasn't much different than what she told to Phantom. This time, however, he could point a few things out and she might actually listen to him.

Besides, he could always pass off his knowledge of ghosts as things gleaned from his parents. It wasn't that unbelievable.

"You're talking about Cujo, right?" Danny asked. "That ghost dog?"

Valerie gave him a sidelong look but nodded. "Think so. Green, spiky collar, ability to transform from a little puppy into a huge monster."

"That's not Phantom's dog."

Valerie snorted. "Yes, it is. You haven't seen them together. Trust me, I have."

"My parents haven't," Danny said. "I mean, yeah, they've got loads of Phantom sightings recorded, but as far as I know, they don't have any with Cujo and Phantom together. Are you sure Cujo isn't just a stray that Phantom needs to catch and return to the Ghost Zone?"

Valerie rolled her eyes. "Phantom was training him. I've seen him."

"Training Cujo to what, attack? I doubt it. Maybe 'stay'. Or 'go home'. Something so he doesn't have to do all the work himself. From what Mom and Dad say, Cujo is one of the few ghosts that can create their own passageways between the Ghost Zone and our world."

"Danny—"

"It's worth considering, isn't it?" _Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes…._

"Fine. Maybe."

Valerie lapsed into silence again, and Danny quietly celebrated the minor victory. After a moment, though, he figured he might as well start steering the conversation towards the real reason Valerie had asked Phantom to look out for Fenton so she could have this talk in the first place. "Hey," he said, catching her arm, "what did you really want to talk about?"

"Honestly?" A beat, then, "It really was ghosts. And I know you probably hate that topic, Danny, but I kinda…." Valerie trailed off. "You've probably realized," she said, slowly, "that I've got a different view than other kids on the subject of ghosts."

"I think you've done some more research on them than, say, Paulina and Dash, so you have a better basis for your opinions than they do, even if I don't agree with them."

A smile. "Thanks, but I wasn't…. I'm not looking for that, Danny. I just…."

He was probably supposed to finish that sentence for her, supplying words that were just right. But as much as he knew, he didn't know precisely what she was trying to say. So, he waited. It was all he could do. Valerie would have to find the way to say it sometime, and if not, he'd let her change the subject.

A minute later, which felt like an hour later, he was starting to reconsider that.

"I thought I knew something," Valerie said quietly, "and then I discovered something else that throws everything I thought out the window."

Danny cracked a smile. "Sounds like what would happen to my parents if they found a ghost with emotions or something."

Valerie stopped and looked at Danny. "I always believed what your parents said," she admitted. "Maybe even more than you do. The only emotions I'd ever seen a ghost exhibit were things like vengeance. But…."

"You came across one that doesn't," Danny guessed. Not that it was really a guess. He was pretty sure Val was talking about him. "Phantom?"

"How'd you know?"

"You brought him up earlier," Danny pointed out, "and he's the one ghost that my parents can't seem to peg, either." Then, deciding to play dumb, he said, "But I don't get it, Val. Why is this so earth-shattering to you? It's not like your life revolves around ghosts. You're not like my parents."

"It's complicated," Valerie said softly. "My life is complicated, really, and it's just gotten worse. You have no idea how lucky you are that your biggest worry is avoiding Dash at school."

Cue the irony. Danny raised an eyebrow. "Dash isn't my biggest worry."

A self-conscious smile. "Sorry, Danny. I shouldn't make assumptions. I just…. I envy you, I guess."

Danny snorted. "You envy _me_? Look, Valerie, I won't deny that I'm not upset you were thrown off the A-list—we never would've gotten to know each other very well if you hadn't been—but surely your priorities haven't shifted that much. There aren't a whole lot of people lower than me on the social ladder, you know."

"But you don't care about that," Valerie countered. At Danny's look, she amended, "Much."

"I take pride in remaining slightly above the nerds," Danny said with a smile.

"But it doesn't save you from Dash."

"Don't worry about Dash. He's my problem, not yours. I can handle it."

"Really? Because frankly, I'm surprised you don't have more bruises than you do. I can tell Mr. Lancer—"

"Don't bother," Danny said, cutting her off. "I can handle it. Besides, weren't you telling me you had enough problems to deal with?"

"That's actually why I feel guilty for wanting to dump mine on you."

"What are friends for?"

Those words brought another smile. "After everything I've put you through, I'm surprised you still want to be mine."

She was apologizing and she didn't even realize that he was the one she spent her nights chasing and trying to kill? That was…unexpected. And probably unnecessary. Compared to what she'd done to Phantom, she had no reason to apologize to Fenton.

Because there was no way she knew. If she knew, they wouldn't be having this conversation. And she certainly wouldn't have asked Phantom to protect Fenton.

Unless that was just to prove….

Oh, crud. He might be in more trouble than he'd thought.

"Have you given me any reason not to?" he asked.

"Sam and Tucker seem to think so," Valerie said softly.

Not good.

"I…. Danny, I'm sorry. Really, I am. But I overheard you guys earlier today."

_Really_ not good.

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop. It just…happened. And I overheard something I'm pretty sure I wasn't meant to hear."

It was coming, wasn't it? The accusation.

Except she couldn't be _that_ mad at him or this conversation wouldn't be a civil one.

"I'd never hurt you, Danny. I swear. Not intentionally."

Or maybe he was just jumping to conclusions.

"I wouldn't think you would," Danny replied. "Neither would Sam and Tucker. I don't know what you heard, but you heard wrong."

"I'm not sure I did," Valerie countered, picking up her pace and heading for the trees.

Danny followed, wondering what the heck they'd said and wondering if he'd gotten Valerie's reasons for wanting to talk to him wrong. Maybe this wasn't about ghosts after all, or at least not as directly as he'd been thinking. Then again, maybe he'd be lucky, and Valerie did have it all wrong. Of course, the only way to find out for sure was to ask, and he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know the answer.

He and Sam and Tucker talked about a lot of things that weren't meant to be heard by anyone else.

By the time they were in the thick of the woods (as thick as they got in the park, anyway), Danny was really starting to wonder what—and how much—Valerie had heard. She was Fenton's friend, so maybe this was her version of giving him the benefit of the doubt. Of course, if that was true, he probably didn't have as long as he needed.

"What did you even hear?" Danny asked. "What on earth did we say that made you think we thought you were going to hurt me?"

"It was what you said," Valerie admitted. "Danny, I'm sorry, but why the heck do Sam and Tucker think I'm going to shoot you?"

Oh.

Good thing: she hadn't figured it out. Bad thing: he had no explanation. Well, no good explanation, at any rate. "Video games," he said, jumping on the first thing that came into his head. "I was going to find out if you played DOOMED, and if so, if you wanted to team up. Tuck and I haven't managed to crack the top level of the newest version yet, and Sam's refusing to give us her secrets." He gave her a rueful smile. "I think they thought your desire to win might lead to some backstabbing. I mean, it's just a game, right? So it wouldn't really matter."

"I don't have a lot of time for video games," Valerie said quietly, in a tone of voice that was ambiguous enough that he didn't know whether or not she believed him in the slightest. "Between my job and school, I don't have much extra time."

She had time enough to go ghost hunting, Danny figured. Then again, she probably counted that as one of her jobs. "Well, it was worth a shot," Danny said lightly. He smiled. "Talk about blowing things out of proportion, though. Sam and Tuck aren't that sore about you."

Valerie gave him a weak smile in return. "Yeah, I guess. It sounds so silly now. I just…. It sounded less crazy when it was just in my head, you know?"

"Guess your life really is complicated," Danny said. "But I'm willing to listen if you want to talk, Valerie. And I won't tell Sam and Tucker if you don't want me to. You know that, right?"

"Thanks, Danny. I can't—"

The shrill beeping that cut Valerie off came the same time that his ghost sense went off.

Oh, crud.

Why now?

"Oops," Valerie said, diving for her bag to shut the ghost detector off. "Sorry about that, Danny." Then, under her breath, so quietly that Danny Fenton clearly wasn't meant to hear it, "You're late, Phantom."

She thought it was him.

Only it wasn't him, because he was already here and his ghost sense had gone off. Any second now, someone was going to fly by. And Valerie thought her life was complicated. He could blow his secret now to protect both of them, hoping Valerie wouldn't shoot him after what he'd told her about halfas, or—

"Hello, Ghost Child."

Or he could wait for the ghosts to reveal his secret for him. So much for the ghosts laying low for a while. Crud. Valerie had been around enough of his fights that she probably knew Phantom was the only one Skulker called 'Ghost Child'. And she'd likely realize very quickly that Phantom wasn't here when he didn't show up to fight Skulker.

Valerie shot a panicked look at Danny. She might be wondering if she should blow her cover, too, since she'd obviously realized that Phantom wasn't going to show up and fight off Skulker in front of the two of them. Skulker _would _catch them like this, with neither wanting to immediately step up and reveal their carefully kept secret.

Of course, he'd thought getting them to hunt each other had been a good idea, too.

Still, when Skulker primed his weapons and aimed more than a few missiles at them, Danny knew he couldn't defend them without going ghost. His human half could only withstand so much, and after various tests with Sam and Tucker, he definitely knew Fenton had neither the endurance nor the strength of Phantom. Besides, he'd been starting to get Val to soften up when it came to Phantom. And someone needed to save their skins before Skulker shot off his stuff and fried them where they stood. "Goin'—"

"Here," Valerie said, shoving an ectogun into his hands. "If you need it. I'll handle this." And then, to Danny's surprise, Valerie called out her suit and revealed herself as the Red Huntress to Danny Fenton.

The move took Skulker by surprise, too, and Valerie got in one good shot that took out the weapons on Skulker's left side before the ghost retaliated. Danny did what he thought best: run and duck for cover. Valerie would see it as him fleeing the scene, and he could change and get rid of Skulker without Valerie asking him too many questions.

Arriving late would probably mean he'd blown his second chance in her eyes, but at least it was Skulker and not Plasmius. If Valerie had already called it quits on ghost hunting, Vlad would be suspicious if he saw them together so soon. Of course, Skulker could be _working_ for Plasmius, but that was only a problem if they couldn't deal with him now.

Fortunately (and, at other times, unfortunately), Valerie really was a good ghost hunter. She'd done more damage to Skulker than he had to her, and she was providing a great distraction for him. He stopped only long enough to rummage through her bag and find a thermos before coming out to play as Phantom.

"You're late," Valerie growled, sending off a few missiles of her own to counteract Skulker's.

At least she wasn't shooting at him. "Can't be two places at once, remember?" Ectoblast, ectoblast, dodge, ectoblast…. These fights somehow seemed more interesting when he was exchanging witty banter along with fire rather than trying to talk to his ally. Unlike Sam and Tucker, Valerie would probably try to argue with him.

"If you'd been here in the first place, you wouldn't have needed to be."

Intangible, ectoblast, invisible and going in for the punch…. "What, you wanted me close enough to hear everything you were saying when you didn't want to tell me any of it yourself?" _Please buy that._

The question threw Valerie off her game, and Skulker recovered quickly enough from his impact with a nearby tree to get off a shot at her. Skulker wasn't that stupid. He knew it was in his best interests this time to take out the weaker prey and that Danny would do his best to make sure Valerie didn't get hurt.

And since Valerie probably wouldn't take too kindly to him shoving her out of the way, that meant he had to take the blast.

So he dove in front of it, knowing from past experience that this was going to hurt. A lot. But better him than Valerie.

* * *

"Phantom!" Valerie screeched. "Are you _nuts_?" She sent off a volley of blasts at Skulker, hating the fact that a small part of her was worried about the wellbeing of a piece of ghost scum. Whatever he'd been hit with had taken him out. She'd seen him in battle enough times to know that he should be getting up right about now, some sharp remark rolling off his tongue as he blasted out his retaliation.

But he didn't move.

She dived for the thermos that had rolled from his grasp. Hers, of course. His own was nowhere to be seen.

She saw the net coming towards her out of the corner of her eye and rolled off to one side. It went wide of her, and she realized she hadn't been the intended target. It surrounded Phantom and retracted. Valerie shot a blast off to try to sever the net, but the stupid thing was resistant to low level ectoblasts or something. So she did the only thing she could do: she used the thermos.

She knew Skulker would go in no problem. Between the two of them, he'd gotten a fair beating. But she couldn't stop Phantom from going in, too; from this angle, she couldn't hit Skulker without the beam from the thermos catching Phantom, and she didn't have time to move. But she needed to get rid of the ghost threat before she could talk to Danny, and if she had to get rid of his dismal excuse for a guard in the same shot, then fine. She would.

Valerie screwed the cap tightly back onto the thermos and got to her feet. "Danny?" she called tentatively, starting off in the direction she'd seen him run in. "It's over."

Nothing.

"It's safe, you know," she called. "And I'm sorry I didn't tell you about being the Red Huntress. But I didn't because I didn't want this to happen. I didn't want to put you in danger. That's why…." Her voice hitched of its own accord. "That's why I broke up with you," she finished softly.

Silence was still her only response.

"Danny?"

A couple more feet brought her to see the ectogun she'd given him lying abandoned in the brush. There were broken twigs and stuff all around and no clear path to tell her where he'd gone. He'd run for it; that's all she knew. Whether it was because of the ghosts—son of ghost hunters or not, he was more scared of them than anyone else she knew, judging by the way he always managed to vanish when they turned up—or because of _her_, she wasn't sure.

She wasn't sure she wanted to know, either.

"Danny, I'm sorry," Valerie called again.

She tried calling his cell phone, and after a long pause, it went straight to voicemail. It was off, dead, or…out of range.

Oh, God, what if Skulker had just been a distraction? What if she'd fallen for it? Maybe that's why Phantom had been late. Maybe he'd been trying to take care of some other ghosts. Maybe Mr. Masters was already onto her. Maybe he'd already captured Danny because she'd been about to tell him his secret.

This wasn't supposed to happen. She'd never meant for Danny to get caught up in the middle of this, too. She'd never meant for him to get hurt. He didn't deserve that. He was just a good friend, and she'd gotten him captured by ghosts—probably by Plasmius—because of it.

It was all her fault.

"_No_," Valerie told herself sternly. "Get a grip. You don't know what's going on. Danny probably just turned his cell off. He'll be at home or at Sam's or Tucker's or the Nasty Burger, and he's just avoiding you because you didn't exactly prepare him for any of this."

She'd have to explain. It was Danny; she was sure he'd give her the chance to. She just needed to find him first.

* * *

A/N: And now things are starting to get interesting. Who saw this coming? Come on, hands up, there had to have been a few of you….


	6. Chapter 6

Valerie tried the Nasty Burger first. Sam and Tucker were there, but Danny was nowhere in sight. She went into the back once, on the pretence of leaving, and when Danny didn't materialize soon after, she accepted the fact that he wasn't just hiding from her. Not here, anyway. And if Sam and Tucker were here, then Danny wouldn't be at one of their houses.

She knew Sam and Tucker had seen her come in, and she saw the worried glances they exchanged as she left. That told her something else: they didn't know where Danny was, either. He hadn't called in to tell them anything. Hadn't spared the time to send a quick text message before turning his phone off.

It was fine. He'd be at home. She was worrying over nothing.

Jazz answered the door again. "Hi, Valerie," she said. Her eyes swept the street behind Valerie, and she added, "Where's Danny?"

She wasn't worrying over nothing.

Jazz frowned. "Valerie, what happened? Where's Danny?"

She didn't want to tell Jazz, but she'd tell Jazz before she breathed a word to Sam and Tucker, because she was pretty sure they'd find a way to make this entirely her fault. It was, really, but she didn't need to be made to feel any more guilty than she already was. She could grit her teeth and go looking for Danny by herself, but determination alone wouldn't ensure his safety. She didn't know where he was. Not for certain. And until she found out, she didn't have a hope of bringing him back.

Even if she was right, even if Vlad was the one behind this, she couldn't go into this blindly. She was still rattled, and whether she liked it or not, it was affecting her judgement. Skulker had nearly gotten her. Would have, if Phantom hadn't taken the hit for her. Phantom was right; if she tried to go up against Vlad, he'd cream her.

"What's going on?" Jazz asked, her fear coming through in her voice.

Valerie opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again and whispered, "Danny's gone."

Jazz stared at her for a moment. "Ghosts?" she asked quietly. At Valerie's nod, she continued, "Where?"

"The park."

Jazz pursed her lips, then stepped back and opened the door wider. "Come in. We need to talk." Once Valerie did and was safely seated in the living room, Jazz hollered, "Mom! Dad! Danny's friend Valerie just called and said there were ghosts spotted in the park!"

The effect was immediate. A not-so-faint cry of _"Ghosts?" _was quickly followed by crashing sounds from the basement, thudding footsteps up the stairs, and the whine of weaponry. Jack and Maddie Fenton rushed out, and within two minutes, Valerie and Jazz were alone.

Jazz, who had watched this from the relative safety of the stairs to the upper level of the house, closed the door behind her parents and calmly walked over to take a seat opposite Valerie. "Now we can talk," she said evenly.

Valerie suddenly wondered just how good Jazz was—at psychology, ghost hunting, everything. "You did that just to get your parents out of the house?"

Jazz shrugged. "You saw ghosts. They'll want to check it out."

For a minute, Valerie wasn't sure whether she wanted to believe her. When it came down to it, she didn't know Jazz Fenton that well. She wasn't entirely sure what the girl was doing or why.

"Now tell me what happened," Jazz said.

Valerie hesitated. "It was Skulker," she finally said, thinking it wouldn't be unusual for her to know that ghost's name when he showed up so often. "Danny and I were talking, and he came, and…."

"And?"

She wasn't going to get out of this without telling her secret, was she?

"I told Danny to run," Valerie said quietly.

"And then, what, Phantom showed up?"

_Yes,_ _but not for the reason you're thinking. _"He came later. I…." She trailed off, but she knew she might as well spit it out. If Danny found that he had to talk to someone about this behind her back, it was just as likely to be Jazz as Sam and Tucker. "I had to…. I had to fight Skulker myself."

"As the Red Huntress."

Valerie froze. Jazz knew? How the heck did she—

"Don't look so surprised," Jazz said. "I pay attention and I keep an open mind. That allows me see more things than most people in this town."

"And you didn't tell anyone?" _Please agree. Please don't let anyone else know…._ If too many people knew, her secret soon wouldn't be a secret any longer. Loose lips sink ships, the saying goes. She trusted Danny enough to let him know, but she wasn't so sure about anyone else.

"It's your secret," Jazz reminded her. "Not mine. I figured you'd tell people when you were ready."

"Even though what I'm doing is dangerous by the standards of any adult?"

Jazz smiled. "You might have a grudge against Phantom, Valerie, but I have faith in him. He'd make sure you weren't seriously hurt."

Valerie immediately opened her mouth to deny it but found she couldn't. The one time she had been about to do something that could have really killed her, Phantom had made sure she'd been stopped. And Jazz…. Jazz didn't sound terribly different than Danny. Or Phantom himself, come to that. They all seemed to think he was the good guy.

But that didn't matter now. They needed to find Danny. "Well, you might have had time to digest the news, but I think…. I think I spooked Danny. I mean, I've kept this secret a long time. I never told him anything about it, even back when we were dating. I thought he ran for it."

"But you couldn't find him," Jazz surmised. "Did Phantom offer to help?"

Valerie shook her head. "He was…gone by the time I realized Danny was missing." She bit her lip, then confessed, "I think…. I think Vlad Plasmius might have taken him. Danny, I mean."

Jazz blinked. "Plasmius? Did you see him, too?"

"No, I just…." Jazz might keep an open mind, but the whole concept of halfas was hard to swallow. And if almost telling Danny had gotten him in danger, telling Jazz would certainly result in something terrible, too. "I mean, Plasmius is one of Phantom's enemies, and recently Phantom and I teamed up to rescue someone from him. I think he…. I think he might have taken it out on Danny."

"You teamed up with Phantom?" Jazz repeated, raising her eyebrows. "To rescue a ghost?"

"A girl," Valerie said, deciding not to point out that that particular girl was part ghost. "I made a deal with Phantom, and…. It's a long story. The point is, I think Danny's in danger."

"And where's Phantom?"

Valerie frowned. "Why does that matter? Danny's the one in danger."

"I just think he might be able to help us. He can cover a lot of ground, and if Plasmius is behind this, we'll need help."

"From Phantom?"

Jazz sighed. "Put your prejudice aside, Valerie. Not all ghosts are evil, and Phantom is one of the good guys. Do you know where he is?"

Valerie figured trying to argue with Jazz would be a lost cause. If the girl hadn't been swayed by her parents' views, then she wasn't going to change her mind. "He's in my thermos with Skulker." She paused, and then the words came tumbling out. "I don't know what to do. Mr. Masters used to employ me, but he cut me off, and now I don't know how to get rid of the ghosts I capture and I don't have access to any more technology to contain them, and—"

"Relax," Jazz said, putting a hand on her arm. "This isn't the end of the world."

Valerie closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, trying to calm down. "It's my fault Danny's been captured."

"You don't even know that he has been," Jazz pointed out. "He probably just, oh, ran when the ghosts came and figured you'd meet him somewhere in the park. By the fountain, maybe."

"His phone was off," Valerie pointed out.

"Or it was dead. It's Danny. Trust me, it happens." Jazz held out her hand. "Give me the thermos."

"What? Why?"

"So we can get Phantom back and get rid of Skulker. Why else?" At Valerie's blank stare, Jazz added, "I may not hunt ghosts every day like you do, Valerie, but I do know a thing or two about it. Besides, how do you think Phantom empties his thermos all the time? He can't create portals directly into the Ghost Zone."

"You _help_ him?" No wonder Jazz knew about her being the Red Huntress. Phantom had probably told her. Because she _helped_ him.

The daughter of ghost hunters helped a ghost. On a regular basis. Because she _trusted_ him.

By this point, Valerie wouldn't have been terribly surprised if she'd found out that Danny did it, that he trusted and helped Phantom, simply because he was a really trusting person, but Jazz…. She'd always pegged Jazz for a more level head. Trusting a ghost (on more than a very temporary basis) seemed so…risky.

How the heck had Mr. and Mrs. Fenton missed this?

Then again, it wasn't really _that_ surprising. Like she'd told Phantom, they couldn't catch a ghost if it was living under their own roof. So if Jazz pulled things like she'd just done now—send her parents off on something as a distraction—then Valerie could see how they hadn't realized their own daughter was helping the enemy.

Of course, since the whole Dani Phantom thing and her discovery about Vlad, she hadn't been much better.

Jazz narrowed her eyes. "You'll have to make a choice, Valerie. You can't trust Phantom one day and stab him in the back the next. You can either be like my parents and always try to shoot him down, or you can open your eyes and see him for who he really is and trust him like I do." She stood up. "But you don't have to make that decision right away. Just give me your thermos and I'll deal with it. I'm sure Danny will turn up. Phantom will find him."

Valerie instinctively pulled her bag closer when Jazz reached for it. "You don't know the whole story," she insisted.

"Neither do you," Jazz returned lightly.

"You don't know that," Valerie countered.

"And I suppose you do?" Jazz smiled wryly. "You have to stop looking at the world with blinders on, Valerie. Trust me; I learned that one the hard way. I practically had my entire belief system turned on its head when I was suddenly presented with irrefutable evidence of what I'd been denying."

"Phantom?" Valerie guessed.

"The existence of ghosts came first," Jazz replied. "Although I'll admit Phantom was a bit of a revelation himself."

Maybe Phantom was the first ghost Jazz had accepted as good. Maybe he was the reason she thought ghosts could be good when her parents clearly didn't. But that epiphany had nothing on Valerie's. Finding out that there were ghosts that were half human _had_ to be more earth-shattering than anything Jazz had found out. As much as Jazz pretended, she really had no idea what she was talking about. Not when it came to the things Valerie had recently learned, at least.

But unless she opened her mouth and spilled, Jazz wasn't going to know, anyway. And she wasn't going to do that. She hadn't even really planned on saying anything about that little detail to Danny, either, let alone to his sister. _Especially_ when she now realized that Jazz had been helping Phantom for who knows how long. That she'd known _her_ secret to boot. Who knew what other secrets the girl was keeping?

Jazz crossed her arms. "You're surprised," she surmised, "and angry, hurt, and confused. How much of this is about me?"

"Nothing," Valerie said, a little too quickly.

Jazz snorted. "Come on. I've got a little brother. You think I can't tell when someone's lying to me?"

Valerie frowned but didn't see much harm in telling Jazz a sliver of the truth. It would get the older girl off her back. "I just didn't expect this from you."

"Sometimes people have different sides that you never get a chance to see." Jazz paused, then added, "Of course, that's usually because you don't take the time to look."

Valerie opened her mouth but realized she couldn't deny Jazz's words and closed it again. With some reluctance, she dug in her bag and handed over her thermos.

Jazz took it with a smile. "Thank you. I'll be back in a minute. Just wait here."

Jazz was halfway through the kitchen before Valerie realized she'd be stupid not to protest. Jumping to her feet, she caught up with the other girl by the time Jazz was at the stairs to the basement. "I'm coming," she said, expecting Jazz to deny her request. As a Fenton, she had that right, even if it wouldn't be the first time Valerie had been in the Fentons' basement.

Instead, Jazz just shrugged. "Suit yourself." They continued down the stairs before Jazz held out the thermos, adding, "You might as well do the honours."

"But what about—?" Valerie's words died on her lips as Jazz reached behind her and picked up a Fenton Thermos. "Oh."

When Jazz was ready, Valerie hit the release on her thermos. Skulker and Phantom were expelled, and the light had barely died from her thermos before Jazz's caught Skulker. In an instant, there were only three of them in the lab.

"He's not getting up," Jazz said worriedly, putting her capped thermos aside and getting down to take a closer look at Phantom. One hand reached out and carefully turned his face towards her, but Phantom still didn't stir.

Valerie put her thermos back into her bag, swallowed, and said, "He was hit with something from Skulker."

"Hit with what, exactly?" To Valerie's surprise, she could hear a note of panic in Jazz's voice.

"I don't know. I don't keep track of these things."

"You're the Red Huntress! Don't you know what the ghosts are equipped with? Most of them fight back."

"Your parents hunt ghosts, too," Valerie retorted. "And they _all_ fight back, for your information. Even Phantom." Even if he'd never actually hit her when she was wearing her suit. The most he'd really done to her was knock the weapons out of her hands.

Jazz was silent for a moment. Then, "You said Vlad employed you, right?"

Valerie shifted on her feet. She hadn't really meant to say that earlier. It had just come out. She'd been hoping—apparently vainly—that Jazz had missed that. "That shouldn't be so surprising. From what I understand, your parents and Vlad know each other."

"They worked together in college," Jazz agreed absently, still checking Phantom over. For a split second, it almost looked like she was searching for a pulse, the way her hand rested with two fingers pressed up against— But that was ridiculous. Ghosts didn't have pulses. Jazz, being a Fenton, would know that better than the next person.

"But Mr. Masters doesn't have anything to do with this."

"He might."

Valerie narrowed her eyes. "What the heck would give you that idea?" _She_ knew why Vlad might be involved, since she still suspected Plasmius of being behind something and she wouldn't put it past him to send another ghost to incapacitate her—or Phantom—when he had no qualms about using others to do his dirty work, but Jazz? There was no way she had even an inkling of that.

A tiny voice reminded her that, not ten minutes earlier, she'd been convinced that there was no way Jazz would even have an inkling of her being the Red Huntress, but she firmly ignored it. Phantom had told Jazz. Simple as that. And he probably wouldn't spill the thing about halfas to just anyone. He'd been reluctant to tell her, and she already knew about Dani.

Jazz exhaled slowly and sat back on her haunches before looking up at Valerie. "Tell me what you know first."

"What?"

"Tell me what you know," Jazz repeated, getting to her feet. "This is important, Valerie. I need to know."

"So, what, you can tell your parents?"

"No." The response was swift, decisive. It left no room for argument, no cause to think that Jazz might be lying. "Tell me what you know, and then I'll explain."

Fat chance. She wasn't going to fall for that. It wasn't even a fair deal. Valerie crossed her arms and fixed the older girl with a stare. "I've _told_ you what I know."

The corners of Jazz's mouth quirked upwards. "Remember what I said about lying?"

Yikes, she could see through a lot. Danny must never get away with anything on her watch. No wonder he spent so much time with Sam and Tucker. Jazz was worse than _her _father, and he'd been watching her like a hawk ever since he found out about her being the Red Huntress. "I told you all the important stuff," Valerie muttered.

"Do you want me to guess, then?"

Oh, that could be interesting. "Please do." If Jazz had a guess that was close enough to the real thing, then Valerie could pretend that that was it all along, and voilà! No need for a lie.

"When you came by earlier," Jazz began slowly, "to hang out with Danny, you wanted to talk about ghosts."

Valerie shrugged. "Honestly, it's hard to talk to someone in your family and not have that come up."

"But that was your reason, wasn't it? Ghosts?" At Valerie's reluctant nod, Jazz continued, "And this was tied into the reason you aren't working for Vlad at the moment."

"Two for two," Valerie murmured, seeing nothing wrong with giving Jazz that much. The more that she had right, the more likely she'd think she was right when she invariably guessed the wrong thing.

There was a moment of silence, and Valerie knew that Jazz was studying her, not just staring. Then, "It was something about Phantom."

Bingo. That was close enough to be believable. Valerie sighed. "You've got me."

More silence. More studying. Jazz crossed her arms. "All right, then. Spill."

"What?"

"Tell me what you told, or were going to tell, my brother."

"No. That's—"

"Not personal if it was about Phantom."

"_Private_."

Jazz fixed her with a look. Man, the girl was good at that. Could all siblings do that? It made Valerie very glad she was an only child. She only had to worry about getting that look from her father. "This is important, Valerie."

"Yeah? How?"

Jazz pursed her lips. "Think of Danny."

"But that's completely unrelated! I don't even know where Danny is."

"That's the point. I'm willing to bet Phantom can find him, but if he's out of the game, Valerie, then we're at a disadvantage. So if you know anything, anything at all, you should tell me. I can help. What were you going to say to Danny?"

For a split second, Valerie was strongly tempted to lie. But half truths seemed to be the best route with Jazz, and she wasn't in any position to stray from what had been proven the safest road. "Phantom's been playing mind games with me," she admitted, thinking of their earlier conversation. "He's knows I'm the Red Huntress, and ever since we saved that girl together, I just…."

Jazz was frowning now. "This can't just be a good versus evil debate. Not about Phantom." She glanced at him again. He still hadn't moved. Looking back at Valerie, she asked, "Why did Vlad cut you off now if you've been his lackey since you started ghost hunting?"

"I wasn't his lackey!" Valerie protested immediately.

"Just tell me."

"That's personal. It's between me and Vlad." Jazz just raised an eyebrow, and Valerie decided to throw something out there and hope that it would be believed. "We had a disagreement about Phantom."

Both eyebrows were up now. Jazz probably didn't believe her. "What was your side?"

"Huh?"

"In this alleged disagreement. Which side did you take? That Phantom is good and shouldn't be hunted or that he's evil and he should?"

Crud. Whatever she said, Jazz could pin her. She'd already expressed doubts about Phantom, enough that Jazz wouldn't buy that she thought he was the good guy. Which meant that she had to argue that she'd been saying Phantom was the bad guy, which wouldn't be easy when she'd just admitted to working with him to save someone.

There was a trace of amusement in Jazz's eyes, enough to tell Valerie, without a doubt, that Jazz knew she'd trapped her. This particular half truth wasn't going to hold up for very much longer.

"If it's easier," Jazz said, "you could tell me which side Vlad took."

Valerie swallowed. She had to tread carefully here. "Vlad sent me after Phantom a few days ago," she said quietly, taking care not to specify that she'd been told to hunt down _Dani_ Phantom instead of _Danny_ Phantom. "After Phantom and I worked together, I wasn't…sure, I guess. About him."

"You mean you weren't sure about his nature that you previously just blindly assumed was evil through and through, like Mom and Dad do?"

Valerie gave a careful nod. "Don't get me wrong. I don't trust him. I just…don't want to destroy him." Then, for good measure, she added, "Not like Mr. Masters." Since Jazz knew Vlad had employed her, had sent her after ghosts, it wouldn't be a stretch to believe that he wanted Phantom destroyed.

Not for her, anyway. Valerie already knew that wasn't the case. Vlad had never sent her after Danny Phantom before, and from what Phantom had said, Valerie figured it was because she'd been trying to blast the ghost to smithereens ever since she'd started. But if Vlad wanted Phantom to study or something, or whatever he wanted him for, then he certainly didn't want him destroyed. Given their conversation, though, it probably wouldn't be too hard for Jazz to think that he did.

Unfortunately for Valerie, the older girl's eyes narrowed and she called her bluff. "Vlad might want Phantom captured, but he doesn't want him destroyed. Not yet."

How the heck did Jazz _know_ all of these things? Did Phantom tell her everything? At this rate, Valerie wasn't going to have a leg to stand on.

"You quit, didn't you?" Jazz said, watching Valerie's expression carefully. "Vlad didn't fire you. You quit. Or tried to take a break or something, in which case he cut you off until you came to your senses, since I doubt Vlad has let anyone get away with just quitting and walking away."

Valerie tried very hard to keep her emotions off her face, but she somehow wasn't sure she'd been successful. "This doesn't matter, Jazz."

"Of course it does. Unless you thought you were the only one in Vlad's employ?"

Valerie finally realized what Jazz meant. "You think he sent Skulker to get Phantom?"

"It wouldn't be the first time."

It wouldn't? No wonder Jazz had figured this out so quickly. She must have either seen it before or been told about the previous encounters. But there was something that still didn't make sense to Valerie. She figured Vlad was behind this. She'd told Jazz that she thought Plasmius had kidnapped Danny. But Jazz didn't know that Masters was Plasmius. So why keep bringing up Vlad?

"And what about Danny?"

Another glance at Phantom. Then, slowly, "You said yourself that you thought Plasmius had gone after Danny. If Mom and Dad don't come across him, you might be right."

Jazz didn't continue, so Valerie bit the bullet and asked. "Why keep bringing up Mr. Masters, then, if you think Plasmius took him?" The minute the words were out of her mouth, the answer that had been staring Valerie in the face finally became clear. Jazz just thought Plasmius was also working for Vlad. Like Skulker. She was probably assuming that Phantom's weakness was saving people, and that if Vlad pretended Danny was in danger….

Oh, man, Jazz certainly couldn't have a high opinion of Mr. Masters if she figured he'd use her little brother like that.

Of course, considering what Valerie now knew, Jazz was completely right in her opinion of him anyway.

"I have a feeling you know," Jazz said softly. She turned to Phantom again, kneeling down to give him a gentle shake. Though her next words were whispered, Valerie could still make them out: "Please wake up. We need you. I can't handle this by myself."

Phantom was still out cold. Looking at him and remembering everything he'd said to her, not to mention everything Jazz and Danny had said to her, Valerie couldn't help but feel guilty. She hadn't trusted Phantom. Not really. She still hadn't quite believed him when he kept insisting that he was the good guy. That he just wanted to save the town and everyone in it, that he really wanted to help just to help, that he had no ulterior motive.

She'd tried to get him to prove it to her by telling him to protect Danny. He'd failed in that, but he'd done something else, something she definitely hadn't asked him to. It was something that, whether she liked it or not, proved that his insistence that she should trust him wasn't just empty words. He'd protected her.

That was supposed to be her lying there.

Skulker had been aiming for her, but Phantom had lunged in front of the blast. He'd taken it completely. Taken what was meant for her. And now….

Now, who knew what had really happened to him. She should be eating crow after everything she'd said, but that final bit of proof just made things more complicated than ever. Phantom really was a good ghost, or at least he could be most of the time. Which meant he probably hadn't lied to her before, but her instinct that had told her he'd been lying or at the very least keeping something back…. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been wrong.

She was missing something, she suspected. Something that made all of this make more sense than it did. Something she'd almost be willing to bet Jazz Fenton knew, and maybe even Danny, too, if he secretly helped Phantom out like Jazz did. But she had no idea what it could be, and she was certain she wouldn't get a word out of Jazz. The only one she could ask would be Phantom, and right now, that wasn't even an option.

"I'm sorry," Valerie whispered, more surprised that she actually meant it than that she was saying it. But she did mean it, even if Phantom would never hear it. And for some inexplicable reason, she was glad that she meant it, even knowing it meant she'd been wrong all this time and admitting to it, if only to herself.


	7. Chapter 7

"What are you looking for?" Valerie asked. After checking on Phantom again, Jazz had jumped to her feet and started rummaging through drawers and cupboards, scanning countertops for something.

"I'm not sure," Jazz answered, a trace of a frown on her face as she closed the cupboard doors. "Something useful. Maybe something the equivalent of smelling salts. I'm not terribly picky at this point if I find something that might work if I know it won't hurt him." Another glance at Phantom. Jazz was more worried about him than she'd admit.

"You're looking for something helpful for a ghost in a ghost hunter's lab?" It was about what she'd told Phantom when he'd come for the Ecto-Dejecto, but it was a bit more surprising to see Jazz so readily admit to her parents' failures.

Well, what they would call failures, anyway.

Jazz laughed and looked back at Valerie. "If you knew my parents a bit better, Valerie, you'd probably know that Dad, especially, tends to help ghosts as much as hurt them."

Phantom had told her the same thing, albeit in different words. Valerie wondered now whether Phantom kept an eye on the Fentons personally or whether he just got most of his information straight from Jazz. "What about the Ecto-Dejecto? Would that help?"

The drawer Jazz had been pawing through was abruptly shoved shut. Without turning to look at her, Jazz asked, "How do you know about that?"

Well, lying wasn't getting her very far. "Phantom told me."

Jazz sighed. "We could try it, I suppose. Dad still has a few samples kicking around from his last test batch. But that gives a ghost stability instead of destabilizing it, and that's not Phantom's problem."

"But it can't hurt him, right? I mean, you just said you'd try anything if there was a chance it would work."

Jazz turned around to face her now. "You've picked a side, then?"

"If I was going to destroy him," Valerie pointed out evenly, "I would've done it when I had the chance."

Another long look from the eldest Fenton child. Then, "Phantom trusts you, you know. More than he should, given your track record. It's about time you started to extend him the same courtesy."

"That's between me and him," Valerie said stiffly. She was tired of Jazz's continual lecture. Did Danny get this all the time? "If we need Phantom awake to get Danny back, then let's figure out how to fix him."

Jazz shot her a dark look. "He's not a toy; he's a person."

"A ghost, you mean."

"Regardless, it's not easy to _fix_ him. We don't know what's wrong, not if you don't know what Skulker's latest tricks are. Phantom clearly didn't, either."

"Don't put this on me," Valerie protested. "It's not my fault."

Jazz bit her lip. Then, "Can you use a Wraith Wrangler?"

Valerie raised an eyebrow. "What are you thinking?"

"Just that if Skulker did this, he should know how to reverse it."

"What, you think this was a drug or something similar?"

"I have no idea what it was. That's the problem. But if we can get Skulker out of his suit, he might talk."

Valerie thought about arguing but decided Jazz had a point. "Ropes aren't my strong point," she admitted.

"I'll handle that, then. You let Skulker out of the thermos and blast his head off. The sooner we can get him out of his suit, the better."

All things considered, it went smoothly. Skulker was hardly out of the thermos before Jazz had him bound. There was a bit of trouble when Skulker started to cut through the Wraith Wrangler with one of his many knives, but a few quick blasts from Valerie's ectogun at close range damaged some of his suit mechanics, and they fried a few more when Jazz electrified the Wrangler. A few more blasts from Valerie, coupled with a good kick, knocked the headpiece off. The suit powered down immediately, and Jazz fished Skulker out of the suit's head.

Valerie snorted when she was reminded of how small and completely unthreatening Skulker's true form actually was. "Listen up, spook," she growled, pointing an ectogun at him and ignoring his squeaks that he was Skulker, the Ghost Zone's Greatest Hunter. Considering he was now dangling from Jazz's grasp by one arm and all his swinging and thrashing about had absolutely no effect, ignoring him was relatively easy. "What'd you do to Phantom?"

"You can't do this! I am Skulker! I am—"

"Going to be a smear on the opposite wall if I shoot you," Valerie cut in. Jazz smirked approvingly, and Skulker kept protesting. "Now tell me what you did to Phantom."

Skulker continued to ignore her, so Jazz, using her free hand, picked up a Fenton Lipstick and turned it on him. His squeaks turned into a shriek. "We can keep this up all day," Jazz said lightly.

Valerie glanced at Skulker's empty suit. "Only we don't have all day. Jazz, can you open that portal?"

Jazz grinned, clearly anticipating Valerie's plans. "Piece of cake." When it was open, Skulker had a good view of Valerie pitching his armour into the Ghost Zone.

"_You can't do this_!" Skulker shrilled.

"So spill and we'll let you go in time to retrieve it," Valerie said bluntly. "Otherwise…." She trailed off, holding up her gun for effect.

"He'll wake up," Skulker said sullenly, now hanging limply from Jazz's hand. "It was a concentrated form of the shock I gave you when you two were fighting to keep that sack from harm."

Valerie wrinkled her nose. "Sack? What sack?"

It looked like Skulker was attempting to glare at her, though it had little effect. "The one that smelled of beans."

Valerie blinked as the pieces fell into place. Of course, that didn't mean everything made sense…. "The flour sack? I was the only one who cared about that." It had been a stupid school project. Phantom had had nothing to do with it. She'd been paired with Fenton, and they'd been lucky to scrape a C on it after the mess the flour sack had been in by the end of the week they'd had it—or, more specifically, after she'd first really met Skulker and gotten stuck in the Ghost Zone with Phantom. The flour sack had been collateral damage, for all that she'd tried to protect it.

"It wouldn't have been suitable bait if it didn't have value to both of you," Skulker said.

"But Phantom wouldn't care about it!" Valerie protested.

Jazz, speaking over Skulker, hastily suggested, "Maybe he saw how hard you were trying to protect it. He has been trying to get on your good side for a while now, you know." She tossed Skulker into the Ghost Zone and shut the portal.

"Why'd you let him go?" Valerie demanded. "I wasn't finished asking him questions! What if he was lying?" And, more importantly, what if Jazz was right and Skulker _was_ working for Plasmius? Why would she let him go before she could ask if Skulker knew where Danny was? It didn't make any sense.

"He wasn't lying," Jazz said shortly.

"He was lying about Phantom and the flour sack."

Jazz bit her lip. "Maybe. But he wasn't lying about whatever else he said. I heard about the time you and Phantom ended up as Skulker's prey. Pieces of it, anyway, and this does sound like the same type of thing he used to knock you out then."

Valerie raised an eyebrow. "Exactly how much does Phantom tell you?"

Jazz sighed. "Not as much as I wish he would, that's for sure. I swear, sometimes he just throws me a bone and hopes it'll keep me satisfied so I miss the huge things he tries to hide from me."

"Doesn't work, huh?"

"Not necessarily. Sometimes I know there's something he's not telling me, but that doesn't mean I'll ever find out what it is." Jazz pulled out a couple chairs and shoved one towards Valerie. "Might as well sit down. This may be a while."

As Jazz plopped down in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest and facing Phantom, Valerie said, rather uncertainly, "We're just going to sit here?"

"Unless you'd care to do the talking, yes."

Right. So she wasn't going to be getting any more from Jazz about how much she knew, and there was no way she was going to keep opening her mouth when Jazz would call her on half the things she said and ask questions about the rest. She'd weaseled enough information out of her as it was. With a sigh, Valerie flopped down into her chair to wait.

* * *

Danny groaned as he tried to blink his eyes open. It was so _bright_. Still, he knew he couldn't be in bed because the floor or ground or whatever it was was hard. What had happened? He couldn't remember—

Skulker.

Valerie.

Danny sat bolt upright, one hand automatically going to his head as the world started to spin. "Ow," he moaned, squeezing his eyes shut again.

"Take it easy, Phantom."

Jazz's voice. What was she doing here? Danny opened his eyes and decided that the better question was what he was _he_ doing here. As far as he recalled, he and Val had been in the park when Skulker had crashed the party. And he somehow doubted Valerie would drag him through the streets when—

Danny caught sight of Valerie's thermos sticking out of the bag at her feet. That explained a lot. Skulker was probably still in it. Even so…. "What happened?"

"You got hit. What do you think happened?" Sarcasm from Valerie. At least they were still talking. He hadn't gotten the feeling she'd been too impressed that it had taken him so long to show up after Skulker had turned up.

"We've taken care of Skulker," Jazz said, taking pity on him. "You don't have to worry about him for a while."

Hold on. "_We_?"

There was a pause, and though Danny was staring at his sister and had years of practice, he couldn't read her face. "I know you wanted to keep it a secret, but I had to tell her."

She didn't. She wouldn't.

Jazz raised her eyebrows in that '_Well, what did you _expect_ me to do?_' way.

Oh, crud, she did.

"I can't believe you two work together," Valerie said. "Did you tell her I was the Red Huntress?"

Wait. If Valerie actually knew, that's not what she'd be saying.

"Don't look so shocked, Phantom. We knew we couldn't keep it a secret from everyone forever."

Phantom. Oh, good, he was still Phantom. He vaguely remembered Jazz calling him that already; she must've read the look on his face and realized he'd missed it. And the best lies had bits of the truth in them. If Jazz admitting to Valerie that she helped him meant he wasn't still stuck in a thermos, then he was grateful. "Yeah, I guess," he said. Looking at Valerie, he added, "I never outright said anything, but Jazz is good at picking up clues you don't realize you've dropped and putting the pieces together."

Valerie shot Jazz a look of grudging respect. "Yeah, I've figured that out."

"Valerie's worried about Danny," Jazz said. "She hasn't seen him since the fight, and she thinks Plasmius might have him. You can cover more ground than we can, Phantom. Mind helping?"

"Course not," Danny said, getting to his feet.

"You two go searching," Jazz said. "I'll wait here in case Danny comes back or phones. I'll let you know if I find anything."

Jazz started back up the stairs, and Danny faced Valerie and held out his hand. "Ready?"

Valerie looked at him and then back at the stairs, even though Jazz was gone by now. "Not really," she said slowly.

Danny dropped his hand. "Why not? Jazz said you were worried about Danny. That usually means we should go looking now, right?"

"But that's what I don't get," Valerie explained. "Jazz…. I don't know her that well, but even _I_ can see it. If you work with her, Phantom, you've gotta know what she's like."

"Uh…yeah, I guess. So?"

"So she's not worried about Danny."

Danny rubbed the back of his neck. "You don't know that. Maybe she's just confident we'll find him."

Valerie snorted. "Too confident, if you ask me. She was more worried about you when you were out of it than she was when I told her I think Plasmius kidnapped her little brother."

Crud. Too much more of that and Valerie might figure it out. Jazz hadn't done as good a job of covering for him as he'd thought. "I don't think Plasmius would've pulled something like this. He doesn't want the Fentons on his trail, and if Danny disappears, they're going to be looking everywhere for him. Plasmius knows that. Danny's probably just, uh, in the park still. Hiding."

"But I looked for him. Called him. You don't get it, Phantom. He wouldn't have kept hiding."

"Even if he got spooked?"

Danny flinched at the glare Valerie shot him in return for that one. "He's my friend," she said. "He may have just found out that I'd been keeping a big secret from him, but it's something I know he'll get over. It can't be that big of a deal for him when his parents hunt ghosts. I just…. I know he's seen me around as the Red Huntress. He should know I could protect him, that that's what I'd been doing by not telling him in the first place."

Huh. They really did have a lot in common. But he definitely needed to watch what he said or he'd really have some explaining to do when he let Valerie 'find' him as Fenton. "Maybe he just, um, wanted some time alone? To, uh, process things?"

Valerie stared at her feet. "I think I lost his trust. Because I never told him until I got forced into it. I think…. I might've lost a friend."

"What?" Danny couldn't keep the surprise out of his voice. "Of course not! He'll understand, Valerie. I mean, you just said you'd kept it a secret to protect him, right? So what's not to understand?"

"I don't expect you to get it," Valerie said.

Danny sighed. "Because I'm a ghost? We've been through this. I still know—"

"No, you don't," Valerie cut in sharply, facing him now. "That's why Jazz isn't worried about where he is. She knows. She's probably talked to him already. She knows he's avoiding me. Because he can't trust me anymore. Friends don't keep huge secrets from each other. Not things like that. He trusted me, and then I just showed him that I hadn't trusted him enough, and now…. And now things are falling apart and the only person I can talk to is _you_."

Danny blinked. He'd really have to do some damage control. "Look," he said slowly, "I know I'm not your favourite ghost by any stretch of the imagination, but talking to me isn't exactly the end of the world."

"But it's not the same as with Danny," Valerie said. "He's my friend. He doesn't lie to me half the time, not like you do. Not like you are. I have to question everything that comes out of your mouth. You want to know why I don't trust you, Phantom? That's why. Because you keep lying to me."

Okay, then. Valerie had an internal lie detector like Jazz, only Valerie's was less fine-tuned and tended to overlook some things from people she trusted. Danny rubbed the back of his neck. "I may not be able to tell when you're lying to me, Valerie," he said carefully, "and I know you really don't want to talk to me, but I'm getting the feeling that finding out about Jazz—"

"You tell her almost everything, don't you?" He didn't need three guesses to know what she was talking about. She still wasn't happy that Jazz knew her secret.

It figured she'd ask him something like that straight out. He couldn't answer this without incriminating himself. "Not…directly. Not usually, anyway."

"So she just finds out, then, because she helps you?"

"Sort of, yeah."

"And Danny? Does he help you?"

"Well…."

"He does," Valerie concluded. "Just not as much. That's why you didn't tell him about me."

"Technically I didn't really tell Jazz, either," he reminded her. He hadn't, but only because he hadn't needed to. Otherwise, he probably would've. He couldn't deny that. It was best to just change the subject. "So, can we just go look for Danny?"

"Is there any point? He doesn't want to see me. He's avoiding me."

"You don't know that!" Danny exclaimed, exasperated.

"And you know for sure that he's not, then?" she challenged.

_Yes._ "How could I? You left me in a thermos."

"Exactly. You don't know anything, so stop pretending you do."

Chances were, he couldn't talk his way out of this one. "All right. Fine. But if you don't want to look for Danny, then what?"

"I don't know," Valerie said, crossing her arms. "I just wanted to talk to someone, that's all."

"Well, I'm here."

"Someone else."

Danny raised an eyebrow. "Yeah? Who? Because you keep shooting down the idea that you can talk to Danny, and you obviously don't want to talk to Jazz or you would've done it already, and—"

"I don't know, okay?" Valerie said sharply. "This is hard. No one else knows what I know, and if I tell anyone, I'll just be putting them in danger!"

Sam would skin him alive if he told her, and Jazz and Tucker would probably be more than willing to hold him down, but he didn't need Jazz's knowledge of psychology and human behaviour to know that this was really eating away at Valerie. He didn't have to say everything, but he had to say something. Just…not here. He didn't know when his parents would be back, and the lab was the first place they'd go.

Danny sighed and held out his hand again. "Come on."

Valerie eyed him suspiciously. "I said I'm not ready to look for Danny yet. He needs some time to think things through. I don't want to…rush him, I guess."

"I don't want to go looking for Danny. I mean, not until you do. But we need to talk. And I know you don't want to talk to me," Danny added hastily as Valerie opened her mouth, "but I think I need to talk to you."

Valerie stared at him for a moment. "Fine. Talk."

"In the Fentons' lab?" Danny shook his head. "We're safer in the Ops Centre. Or, better yet, _on_ the Ops Centre. Facing the backyard, so they don't see us when they come home. They won't check there. Trust me."

"Well, so long as you don't try any funny stuff," Valerie agreed, picking up her bag and slinging it over her shoulder before reluctantly taking his hand. He turned them both intangible and flew upwards, hoping he could figure out what to say without saying everything—and hoping Valerie would listen.

* * *

The minute they were on the roof, on the top of the crazy contraption that the Fentons had on their house, Valerie was having second thoughts. Phantom probably wanted her up here because he thought it would be more difficult for her to get away. He undoubtedly thought that she wouldn't risk pulling out her jet sled out in the open like this, when anyone who was looking up might see her.

He was right.

"So? What did you have to say?" On a suspicion, she added, "You gonna tell me the truth now?"

Phantom opened his mouth, but it was a moment before he said anything. "There are a few things you should know," he finally said.

"Like?"

"It's because I can't stand to see you doing this to yourself, okay? You're…you don't deserve that guilt. It's not entirely your fault, and it's not entirely mine. Heck, it's not even entirely Vlad's, since if we hadn't played right into his hands…." Phantom trailed off.

Valerie narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean, 'if _we_ hadn't played right into his hands'?"

"I've got a long enough history with Plasmius myself," Phantom confessed. "And I hate to admit this, but he's got leverage over me, too. We've got dirt on each other. That's why I'm still here to talk to you, and that's why he's still in town. We reached a sort of stalemate. There's more to it than that, but…."

"But you don't want to talk about it," Valerie observed. "So what did you want to say?"

"You don't have to try to muddle through this by yourself," Phantom explained.

Valerie crossed her arms. "Right. Because I can talk to you." She walked away from him to lean against the railing, aware that he was following her. "You still don't get it," she said quietly. "I don't know if I can do this by myself, and that scares me. And if you repeat that to _anyone_," she said sharply, turning to glare at him, "I'll blast you into next week."

Phantom held up both hands. "Won't say a word, promise. Cross my heart and hope to d—uh, well, cross my heart, anyway." He went through the motions with his right hand and gave her a pleading look.

Yeesh, the mess with Vlad must be making her go soft. Right now, she didn't even want to level her blaster at him. "Yeah, well, you better not."

"It's just," Phantom started again, "that you don't _need_ to go through this by yourself. And you shouldn't have to."

"Maybe not, but I can't tell anyone about it without risking them. Look at what happened to Danny. What _could_ have happened to Danny. I can't say anything to anyone."

"You might not have to."

"Yeah?" Valerie looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "And how do I try to tell someone about this when I can't even tell them the whole story?"

"You don't have to."

"Yes, I do. Or I would. Because friends actually tell friends the whole truth, Phantom. Any friendship that's riddled with lies and assumptions will crumble. You need to be able to trust each other. But if I trust anyone else with this story about Vlad, they'll be in danger, and I'll be in danger, and they'd think I was nuts, anyway. It's not worth it. I can figure it out for myself."

They stood in silence for a moment, each leaning on the railing of the Fentons' Ops Centre, looking over Amity Park. Then, "You're, uh, not exactly the only one who knows about halfas," Phantom said slowly. "If that's what you're worried about, I mean."

"Ghosts like you don't count," snapped Valerie.

"I don't mean ghosts."

Valerie froze. He was playing her. He had to be. There was no way anyone else knew about halfas. The knowledge was practically turning her life upside down. She might not keep her eyes peeled as much as Jazz Fenton, but she definitely paid more attention to the things going on in this town than most people. She wasn't that clueless. But the only person she could think of who had exhibited even remotely strange behaviour since all the ghosts had shown up was—

Her breath hitched in her throat. "Danny."

Phantom licked his lips. "Yeah. He knows. So does Jazz. There isn't much that gets past her."

Valerie frowned. It figured Phantom wouldn't tell her earlier. He wouldn't dream of doing anything that would make her mess of a life remotely easier. "Anyone else, while you're sharing?" She highly doubted Mr. and Mrs. Fenton knew. The concept almost certainly remained blessedly foreign to them, something that was too absurd to even be considered.

Besides, she wasn't sure how well their friendship with Vlad would hold up if they found out he was half ghost. Finding out that their best friend was a ghost, even if he was just a part ghost, when they'd been swearing to hunt ghosts down and rip them apart to study them and stuff? She could see that taking a bit of a toll. Then again, it would serve Vlad right….

It was a moment before Phantom answered her. "Sam and Tucker," he finally admitted. "I mean, there are no secrets between them and Danny. But if you let on that you know they know, they'll know I told you, and they'll kill me."

"You're already dead."

"You think that would stop Sam?"

Valerie couldn't stop her lips from twitching into a smile. "Guess not." She looked over the town again. The view was good from up here. Nearly as good as flying over on her jet sled. "But why tell them?" she asked. "Because there's no way they would've found out on their own. You had to have told them. And that would put them in danger because of Plasmius. The same kind I'm in."

"I told them," Phantom allowed, "but it's not the same as with you."

"Why? Because Mr. Masters used me before I found out?"

Phantom shook his head. "Because they know about the other halfas, too."

The other halfas.

She _knew_ that spook had lied to her earlier.

But maybe if she didn't outright accuse him now, he'd give her more information before he realized his slip. "Yeah? And how's that protect them?"

"Knowledge is power," Phantom said quietly. "And you need to use every piece you have when you're up against Vlad."

Huh. Maybe Phantom wasn't as thick as she'd figured. Time to call him on it, then. "Knowing about Dani Phantom doesn't seem to give me much leverage."

Phantom froze, and even though she'd only seen it from the corner of her eye, she knew she'd seen a flash of terror cross his face. There and gone in an instant, yes, but it had been there, and that was more than she'd seen from him in all the times she'd been hunting him down. It was almost like—

Oh, God. That was it, wasn't it? He hadn't heard _Dani_ Phantom. He'd heard _Danny _Phantom.

Family indeed.

Phantom plastered a fake smile on his face and shrugged. "Dani's not nearly as powerful as Vlad is."

There was no way she was going to let him off the hook with that. Not now. "How many?" she asked quietly.

"What?"

"How many halfas are there?"

"I told you before. It's just Dani and Vlad."

Valerie snorted. "Right. And that's why you said knowing about the other halfas means it's fine for everyone else to know about Vlad but means he's still after me."

Phantom cringed. "That's not really what I meant."

"Oh, no, of course not," Valerie said sarcastically. "Because you haven't lied to me once." But she got it now. He'd been trying to protect himself. He'd been trying to protect her, even. Oh, God, no _wonder_ he was so different from other ghosts. She should've seen it before.

But she couldn't see something she'd never considered.

Phantom sighed. "There are three," he confessed. "Dani and Vlad are just the two you know about."

There it was, then. The almost admission. The near confession. "And you," Valerie said quietly.

Phantom looked alarmed. "What? No! Of course not. What gave you that crazy idea?" He was rubbing the back of his neck, trying to look sheepish.

"Oh, man, it really is you," Valerie whispered, Phantom's reaction vanquishing the last of her doubts.

All the times she'd argued with him. All the times he'd insisted that he was a good ghost, that he wasn't like the rest of the ones that she hunted, that _he_ hunted. The way he'd seemed to feel emotion, to show it. The way he'd pleaded with her to help him, to call a truce. The way he'd kept his word. All his lies, his half truths…. It wasn't because he was a ghost.

It was because Danny Phantom was only half ghost.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Thanks for the great response to the last chapter! I feel like I built high expectations with it, expectations I will not be able to live up to, but here it goes….

* * *

Crud.

He couldn't wriggle his way out of this one.

_Crud_.

He couldn't afford not to try, either. "Valerie—"

"Save it, ghost boy." She wasn't looking at him, and he wasn't sure how she was taking it, and he wasn't entirely sure precisely when he'd messed up and she'd figured it out, and he wasn't…. He just knew this wasn't what he'd really wanted. Not now. Not like this. It was…too soon, or something. It wasn't the right time.

"You don't understand," Danny tried.

"Maybe I don't need to."

"No, Val, you've gotta—"

"Gotta what, listen to you?" She turned to him now. "There's not much point unless you're gonna tell me everything, and I don't think you're going to. Just don't deny it, okay, Phantom? 'Cause you can't."

"But you don't get it," Danny insisted. "It's—"

"Complicated, right? Yeah, I think I _do_ get it. What's one more complication on top of everything else in my life, anyway?"

Man, she wasn't even going to push it? He'd half expected to have a gun levelled at his head right now, to be told to change back or she'd shoot. But maybe after their conversations, she couldn't. Not now that she knew part of him was human.

Still, to hear her sound so resigned…. That wasn't Valerie.

"It's not what you think," Danny said slowly.

Valerie snorted. "Sure it isn't. Because there's no way you're that third halfa, is there? How stupid do you think I am, Phantom?"

"I don't," Danny insisted. "I just…. It's a long story, okay? But you still don't know it all. And it's better that way. You don't _need_ to know it all."

"I can probably fill in most of the blanks by myself anyway," Valerie muttered, eyes wandering back the skyline. "This explains a lot. Why you act different from other ghosts. Why you can spend so much time here. Why Vlad's so interested in you."

He was, in all likelihood, better off not pointing out that there were multiple reasons for some of those things. "Doesn't change the fact that there are good ghosts out there. I never lied to you about that."

A shrug. "If I'm not hunting ghosts anymore, it doesn't matter."

Danny hesitantly put a hand on her shoulder, and Valerie didn't pull away. Either being found out as a halfa had extra benefits or she really was starting to warm to him. "Don't give it up just because of this. You're good at it."

Valerie glanced at him. "Right. The ghost boy wants me to keep hunting ghosts."

"The _evil_ ghosts. Like I do. There's a difference."

Valerie sighed. "Fine. There's a difference. I'll believe you. It's not like anything else I'd believed is exactly true anyway. But it doesn't matter. I'm not hunting ghosts because of Vlad."

"Vlad? But he put you up to this."

"Yeah, and then I followed your advice and said I needed a break," Valerie retorted. "So he cut me off. End of story. No more ghost hunting for me. I need to find myself another job so I can pay my way through college, anyway. I don't bring in enough just working at the Nasty Burger."

Danny could hardly believe he was about to say this, but Valerie was his friend. He had to. Besides, in the possible future he'd seen, she'd been _good_. Really good. "Look, you love ghost hunting, right? You shouldn't have to give it up just because of Vlad. Take that break and then, well, maybe talk to the Fentons."

Valerie raised her eyebrows. "Seriously? The Fentons? You remember what I said to you about them and the likelihood of their catching a ghost that lived under their own roof, right? And with the amount of times you've obviously been in their house, you _know_ it's true. Those guys see ghosts everywhere when none are around, but for the number of times they miss actual ghosts, you'd think they were blind to them half the time."

Also true, at least when it came to him, but now was definitely not the time to concede that point. "But their inventions work. If you're going to be a ghost hunter, you're going to need gadgets that you don't get from other ghosts."

"Hey! I resent that."

Danny smirked. "Why? You got all your gear from Plasmius, and Technus was the one to give you that new suit."

Valerie shot him a dark look. "Yeah, but you don't have to out and say it."

Danny grinned. "Sorry," he said, even though they both knew he didn't really mean it. He thought about trying to keep the conversation up, but even he could tell that Valerie looked like she wanted to be alone right now, so he kept quiet so she could pretend she was. Jazz always insisted that she needed some peace and quiet to think. From the looks of it, Valerie was the same.

He was seriously considering just leaving when Valerie finally spoke up. "I know who you are, don't I?"

He didn't need to ask to know what she meant. And he had a feeling purposefully misinterpreting the question would just get him into more trouble. He'd (reluctantly) accepted the fact that he couldn't do any more damage control. Whether he liked it or not, his secret was coming out. But still…. "Can I refuse to answer on the grounds that it might incriminate me?"

A sigh. "Oh, man, I do know you."

Great. He'd thought he might have a _little_ more time than that. "And?"

Valerie gave him a sideways glance. "And what?"

"And you're thinking, what? Bad? Good? Never speak to me again?"

Valerie shook her head. "I'm not thinking. I'm just…on autopilot, I guess. You've gotta admit, Phantom, it's a lot to take in." There was a pause, then, "So you actually do have emotions, don't you? Being a halfa and all."

"Okay," Danny said, "for starters, don't say that too loudly, especially here. The Fentons don't know that. And, yes, I do, and yes, full ghosts do, too. I don't think it's exactly the same—these theories have to come from somewhere, right?—but there are places in the Ghost Zone that have their own societies. That just wouldn't work without emotion. Emotions other than purely negative emotion, anyway. I mean, ghosts can work together, just like humans, and be loyal and caring and everything else. They're not all incapable of it."

"But some are?"

That question dredged up some unpleasant memories. Best to keep it short and then steer the conversation to safer waters. "Yeah. And sometimes they're that way by choice. But there are a lot of ghosts out there who just want to be left alone, and a lot who are just trying to help, in their own way. Look at Sidney Poindexter. He stands up for geeks and nerds and everyone else who gets bullied because he couldn't do that when he was alive and the target of it all." Danny paused, then admitted, slowly, "Well, he did before I broke his portal into the Real World. But that's beside the point."

Valerie made a noncommittal noise but didn't comment. Danny hoped it meant she'd listened and would decide later. Jazz had taken the revelation of the existence of half ghosts a lot better than Valerie currently was, but then again, Jazz had never been as gung-ho about _hunting_ ghosts as Valerie was.

Once the silence between them obtained a near-unbearable quality, Danny said, "Do you, you know, want some time to yourself to think this over? I can go." He jerked his thumb in the general direction of the Nasty Burger. Sam and Tucker were still waiting on a report, and it wouldn't take them long to meet him if they weren't already there.

"No, it's fine," Valerie said. "It's just…." She was staring at the ground now, leaning out over the railing and keeping her head hung.

She didn't want to face him, Danny realized.

"Just?" he prompted gently.

"You're human, too," she said quietly. "And I tried to _kill_ you."

"You tried to destroy a ghost," Danny corrected, "which isn't much different from what the Fentons do. Jack and Maddie, anyway. It's fine. You didn't know."

"That doesn't make it _fine_," Valerie snapped, wheeling on him. "You're always trying to be the good guy, Phantom. How's it feel when you realize you've been chasing after a ghost that you _thought_ was evil and destructive when it really wasn't? How's it feel to act on a wrong judgement call you've made?" She shook her head. "This isn't fine. This isn't anywhere near fine. I tried to _kill_ you. And I would've been happy if I'd succeeded."

"But you _didn't_."

"I still tried. And, oh, God, you're probably just some kid that I pass in school, too, aren't you? How old are you? Are you in any of my classes?" She was looking at him closely now. She was a bit too close for comfort, actually. "No wonder you knew who I was," Valerie continued. "I just…." She shook her head and turned away.

"Val, it's not your fault," Danny said. Before she could argue with him, he added, "Not entirely, anyway. I mean, I never told you, right? Even earlier, when I had the perfect chance, I didn't. Because…. Well, partially because I didn't want something like this to happen."

"And partially because you thought I'd shoot you," Valerie murmured.

Danny cringed. "I didn't really think you'd shoot me," he said, not entirely convincingly. "Not on purpose, anyway. Reflex, maybe, if anything. But I saw how you were with Dani. If it weren't for you, she'd just be a pile of ectoplasmic goo. Add that to the fact that you're not on Vlad's tail right now, and, well, I knew it was highly unlikely that you'd actually shoot me if you found out."

Valerie sighed. "I don't even really want to know who you are. I don't want to think about it. I just want things to go back to the way they were."

"Believe me, I know the feeling. But I think you're out of luck. This doesn't really look like a case where you get a do-over."

There was a pause. "You're speaking from experience, aren't you?"

"Let's just say it's not the first time you've found out my secret." Danny leaned on the railing beside her, looking across at the town again. "But since this time is going to stick, Valerie, just…. Can you forgive me for not telling you?"

"What?"

"Can you forgive me for not telling you?" Danny repeated.

He didn't need to turn his head to know that Valerie was staring at him. "What the heck do you mean by that?" she asked, a spark of her usual self flaring to life. "You're the one who didn't tell me when it would've saved you from getting fried."

"Look, I'm not saying I never would've told you if you'd really had me in a bind," Danny said slowly, "but I was being selfish. I mean, I could say it was for your own protection, or so you didn't do this, what you're doing now, but, honestly, I was just…scared."

"Of my reaction." Valerie's voice was flat again. "You figured I'd shoot first and ask questions never."

Danny shook his head. "No," he insisted, looking at her. "I was afraid my secret would get out. That someone might overhear something. That someone might piece it together. I didn't think you'd tell, Val, if I asked you not to, but…. I was afraid of how people who didn't know me would react if it ever did get out. People who just see me as a ghost or a specimen or whatever. I didn't want to end up in a lab. And with just three people knowing, it felt…safer."

"Four."

"What?"

"Four people knowing."

Oh, crud. "What'd I say?"

A quick glance told him Valerie's eyes were narrowed. "Three."

Danny shrugged. "I keep forgetting about Jazz. The others knew from the start."

Silence.

Not the uncomfortable, awkward silence of before, but more of a…pregnant pause. Lancer had been saying something about those in English the other day, about some part in this short story he hadn't had time to read where there was this air of expectancy, and he'd thought he'd understood it, but now…. He definitely got it now. What he'd been thinking before didn't hold a candle to this.

He would've given just about anything to have that awkward silence of earlier back. This, _this_ is what was _really_ nigh on unbearable.

"Oh, God."

There it was.

"Oh, God. It... It's you…."

Well, he'd known it was coming sooner rather than later. All he could do now was minimize the damage. "I'm sorry, Valerie."

Valerie was backing away and shaking her head. "Oh, God," she said again. "_Danny_."

Danny rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm sorry," he repeated. "But can you forgive me for keeping it a secret?"

"I tried to kill…."

"_No_," Danny said immediately, stepping forward to grab her arm, to stop her from backing away. She jerked back, and he stopped and stood his ground. "We've been over this, Valerie."

"But—"

"But it doesn't matter who I am, okay? I'm still the same person I always was." He paused, then amended, "Well, since the accident, anyway." For her benefit, he added, "There was an incident with the Fenton Ghost Portal. Mom and Dad couldn't get it to work, and I got talked into taking a look around, and I kind of…fixed it."

Valerie just stared at him. She looked…. Frightened, maybe. Definitely guilty. Certainly dumbstruck, if nothing else. And kind of sick, like she might throw up or faint or something, which was easily what worried him the most.

"I could change back if it's easier," Danny offered.

Valerie shook her head. Her eyes were still wide, like she couldn't— "I don't want to believe this."

What? "But you know it's true."

"It's gotta be a trick. You _can't_ be Danny." Valerie's voice had gained a hard edge to it.

"What? But why not? I just _told_ you how I got this way. Wacky invention by Mom and Dad, first in a long line of ones that actually worked. How hard is that to believe? You've met my parents. And you said it yourself: they couldn't catch a ghost if it was living under their own roof."

"Yeah, I did say that. And that's where you got the idea for this, wasn't it?"

Yikes, she _was_ mad at him. That stare had turned into a full-out glare. "Idea for what, the truth?" Good grief, what had gone wrong? When had she suddenly turned from despondent to, well, deadly? If she pulled a gun on him now, he had a feeling she wouldn't miss, even if he got enough of a head start for it to be a long shot.

"This isn't funny!" Valerie spat out. "It's not a game! You can't do this, pretending to…to…."

Oh, great. Now she was crying. Stupid girls with their stupid mood swings. Stupid unpredictable…. Where was Jazz when he needed her? "Valerie—"

"No. I don't want to hear it. I can't believe you made me think…. That you'd _play_ me just like Mr. Masters did…."

"What? But I didn't! I wouldn't! I'm not Vlad, Val. I—"

"Goodbye, Phantom." Valerie had gotten out her ghost hunting gear by now. Suit, jet sled, weapons…. He should probably be surprised it took her this long. "If you know what's good for you, you won't follow me."

And then she took off.

Just like that.

"It's official," Danny muttered as he changed back, figuring he should talk to Jazz since he obviously didn't have a clue what was going on. "Girls are weird."

* * *

No. No way, no how. Danny Phantom was _not_ Danny Fenton. She had _not_ tried to murder the boy she'd had a crush on. The boy she still kinda liked, the one she wanted to confide in, the one she trusted. The boy who wanted to be an astronaut when he grew up. The boy with that sweet, goofy smile that made everything seem less…overwhelming.

He was _not_ the same person as that smirking, smart-mouthed, lying ghost kid who had ruined her life.

Valerie landed in the park, letting her sled and suit retract. She had to find some kind of proof that Phantom wasn't Danny. It shouldn't be that hard, right? If she could just find Danny, then he could…he could tell her…. He could set things straight. Say it was a joke or something, maybe. A prank that had gotten out of hand, that he'd never meant to hurt her like this, that it had been an honest mistake, that he hadn't thought she'd worry so much.

She started her search with the area where they'd been attacked. She hadn't found any clear sign of where Danny had gone before, but she'd been panicked. She hadn't been thinking clearly.

So how come her careful, methodical searching didn't turn up something now?

Vlad Masters might be Vlad Plasmius, but Danny Fenton _couldn't_ be Danny Phantom.

Even…even if it would explain a lot.

The similarities in their looks, their voices, their manner—their names, even. The way Danny had been acting since all this ghost business had begun. The reason Phantom had known so much about her and everyone else at Casper High—even Amity Park in general. The knowledge Phantom had about the Fentons, which was beyond what she would have expected Jazz and Danny to give out. The reason Danny Fenton didn't like Vlad Masters any more than Phantom liked Plasmius.

The reason Phantom had asked for forgiveness.

The reason she couldn't remember if she'd ever seen Danny and Phantom together.

The reason Sam and Tucker had thought she would shoot Danny….

_No_.

She'd _seen_ how Phantom had attacked her first ghost hunting suit. The way he hadn't held back. The way he'd destroyed it without a second thought. Danny Fenton wouldn't have attacked her like that.

Unless it was because he'd known she wasn't in the suit….

But Phantom had attacked other people besides just her. The mayor, for one. And she was pretty sure she remembered overhearing the Fentons grumbling that he'd taken a few shots at them, too. Not to mention the stealing rampage he'd gone on. Danny just wouldn't do that.

Still. She couldn't exactly deny that Phantom had good reason to claim that he was the good guy. Like he'd said, he'd saved the town. He'd saved the people in it. It didn't erase all the bad things he'd done, not for her, but other people were more forgiving. If she ignored the destruction his 'saves' invariably caused, then, yes, even she would have to admit that he was better than a lot of the other ghosts that frequented their town.

And until today, she'd say a ghost was a ghost. That was that. End of story. He was evil, and his good actions were a trick or something, maybe part of a bigger plan, and he couldn't be trusted.

But half ghosts….

She had mixed experiences with them. Danielle…. Dani had done a few bad things, yeah. But she'd stolen so she'd be able to survive. From what Phantom had told her, Vlad had done it to move up in the world, to get where he was today. By backstabbing and blackmailing and thieving and everything else. And Phantom, well…. Aside from nicking the Fentons' stuff, he'd only ever been caught stealing stuff once, and then all the stuff had ended up in the hands of that circus ringleader, which made no sense if Phantom was actually Danny. There was no way he'd ever seen that guy before the circus had come to town.

But Phantom's ease with the Fenton inventions, the way he managed to avoid getting caught—

No. Besides, she'd seen Danny in gym class, and she knew Dash still beat him up every day. If he really was Phantom, he could show some skill. Some backbone. Do something so Dash would lay off.

And, anyway, with the amount of injuries she'd seen Phantom get, Danny would be black and blue every day.

Though, she had to admit, she'd never seen Vlad look particularly damaged after one of Plasmius's fights with Phantom…. But Vlad covered a lot of skin. Long sleeves and everything else. It'd be easy to hide his injuries. Danny still went around in T-shirts most of the time, and she couldn't remember the last time she'd seen so much as a bruise on him.

Which, now that she thought about it, didn't really make sense, given all of Dash's bullying.

No wonder it hadn't been stopped yet. If it didn't look like Dash ever hurt Danny, maybe the teachers didn't think they had enough reason to get rid of Casper High's star quarterback and ruin their chances for the football season when the victim wasn't even complaining….

Valerie sat down on the ground, knowing in her heart that her search was fruitless.

As much as she didn't want to see it, as many excuses as she could come up with _why_ it couldn't be true, she knew it was.

Danny Phantom was Danny Fenton.

It was Jazz's reaction that clinched it, really. Her concern over Phantom, her faith that Danny was all right as soon as she'd found out that Phantom was in the thermos….

She really had been hunting one of her friends. Trying to _kill_ one of her friends. Ignoring all his insistences that he was _good_, that half the things she blamed him for were just misunderstandings, that it would all make sense if she'd just listen to him explain.

She'd tried running away from the truth. Denying it. Ignoring it. Refusing to see it.

It wasn't working.

The truth was the truth, however much she didn't like it. And she, who had prided herself on seeing more clearly than the rest of the townspeople in Amity Park, thinking she, like the Fentons, could see how ghosts like Phantom were truly evil…. She'd been more blind than most, if she'd been friends with Phantom and hadn't even known it.

Friends by day, enemies by night, more often than not.

And Danny had known. The whole time, he'd known. Kept his secret from her for doubtless the same sorts of reasons she'd kept hers from him. Let her shoot at him, rage at him, and then laugh with her and hang out or do something when they were just themselves, not Phantom and the Red Huntress.

She knew why Danny hadn't told her. She understood, mostly. But it still hurt. Not just because of what she'd done to him, which made her feel sick, but because she hadn't known. He hadn't told her. Hadn't trusted her enough.

With everything she'd done to him, everything she'd said, she couldn't blame him.

He didn't blame her. For all that she'd done, he didn't blame her, even if he should. And all he wanted was for _her_ to forgive _him_ for keeping it a secret. For keeping it a secret when he'd _needed_ to keep it a secret from her. To keep it a secret from everyone. His parents. The kids at school. The teachers. All the rest of the townspeople.

He wanted forgiveness for keeping it a secret, and as far as she was concerned, he had it. His crazy, incredible secret was going to remain a secret on her watch. She wasn't going to breathe a word of it. And not because no one else would believe her; because Danny was her friend.

After everything, she owed him.

It was the least she could do.

Keep his secret.

Forgive him.

Beg for his forgiveness in return, even though she didn't deserve it.

Because even though she _knew_ he didn't hold what she'd done against her, the way he didn't against his own parents when they…when they hunted him, like she had….

She needed to hear it. Knowing it wasn't enough. That's why Danny had asked for her forgiveness, too. Knowing she would, or from his view at least probably would, forgive him in time wasn't enough.

Which meant, for both their sakes, she had to face him sooner rather than later. To let him know that she knew, that she understood, that she forgave him. And then…and then they'd figure out the rest.

Valerie wiped at her eyes and got to her feet. It took some effort, but since she was practiced, she managed to push her inner turmoil down to deal with later. With any luck, it would be easier to face after she'd talked to Danny again anyway.


	9. Chapter 9

Danny explained what had happened to Jazz, almost expecting her to laugh. She didn't, of course. But she gave him a look that made it clear she thought he should've been able to figure this out for himself, if he'd just taken the time to do so. For all that she spent so much time buried in books that were supposed to teach her about psychology, she was forgetting a few basics that he'd figured out: their minds worked differently. Just because something was obvious to her, it didn't mean he automatically knew what it was.

"So?" Danny prompted. "What'd I do?"

Jazz sighed, leaning back on her chair. Since their parents were still out, according to Jazz, it was safe to talk in the living room. "Denial, Danny. It's the first stage."

Danny raised an eyebrow. "Really? Because I thought the first stage was her shutting down. I mean, she was doing good for a while. Listening to me. Accepting what I had to say. Not asking too many questions."

"That was a defense mechanism."

"A defense mechanism? How is that a defense mechanism?"

Jazz snorted. "Shutting down? It's avoidance. You should know. You try that one a lot."

Danny ignored that jibe. "But this is different how?"

"It's a refusal to accept the truth," Jazz explained, although to Danny it still sounded like the same thing as avoiding the truth. "And it probably wasn't anything you did, though I somehow doubt you put it as well as you could have."

"Gee, thanks," Danny muttered.

"Just give her a bit of time," Jazz recommended. "She'll come around. Her friendship with Danny Fenton is greater than her dislike of Danny Phantom."

"Hatred, you mean."

Jazz shook her head. "She might say that, and you might say that, but it's not hatred, and you both know it. Especially now. From what I gather, you two were getting along recently. Valerie said something about helping you save someone. Dani, I'm assuming, although it would've been nice to know that she'd come back."

Danny nodded. He'd ended up telling Jazz about Dani shortly after the first time he'd run into her. He hadn't really wanted to at first—it wasn't exactly the easiest thing to bring up in a conversation, especially with a sister who tried to analyze everything you said—but it hadn't taken Sam (and Tucker) very long to point out that it was definitely necessary for when Dani came back.

He'd sort of been hoping she'd stay for longer, and he'd talked to Jazz in anticipation of coming up with some way to make that possible, but after seeing Dani in such good spirits, he knew she needed to travel first. She was still a child. She was still learning. But she could protect herself, and he couldn't pretend that he'd never had the urge to just fly off somewhere to explore.

"That wasn't the first time Valerie's helped you," Jazz pointed out, even though he knew as well as she did how many times Valerie had called a truce with him. "And from the impression I was getting, she was starting to warm up to you."

"Until she flipped and started accusing me of lying, yeah, she wasn't taking things too badly, even before she figured it out."

Jazz rolled her eyes. "You just need to remember her perspective, little brother. It's not very different from what Dani went through. Vlad had her after you, too."

"But Dani never—"

"Dani," Jazz cut in, "isn't Valerie, and Dani understood more than Valerie does, even now."

Danny shot his sister a small smile. Having his secret out wasn't a laughing matter, but since it was Jazz's fault…. "You know, she'd know less if you were a better actor."

Jazz raised her eyebrows, clearly knowing exactly what Danny was getting at. "This is far from the worst that could happen, Danny, and you know it. You'll probably be better off with her knowing. She won't be hunting you anymore."

"Or she'll be hunting me nonstop."

Jazz shot him a look. "Are you even listening to me? You're her friend, Danny. You've been her friend longer than her enemy. It's a stronger bond."

"Actually, I haven't, really," Danny reminded her. "Before Valerie got thrown off the A-list, I was no more friends with her than I was with anyone else on it."

Jazz didn't argue, meaning she'd conceded that point. "But while you were friends with her…."

She didn't need to finish. Danny knew what she meant, and he wasn't really surprised that Jazz had seen it. "Yeah. I had fun. I still have fun with her, whenever we hang out. It's just that, even if we _are _with Sam and Tucker, a ghost always interrupts and Val and I both run off and end up shooting at each other and…. It just doesn't end well."

"And now that's not going to happen."

"I hope not," Danny murmured.

"Hey, you asked," Jazz said. "Don't you trust my judgement?"

"For this? Yeah. I guess."

"You do," Jazz corrected. She reached over to ruffle his hair, and Danny only just managed to duck out of her way. "So make your choice, little brother. Wait for her here, or go looking for her where you think she'd be."

"The park?"

Jazz smiled. "Probably."

"But…what if I _do_ go looking for her and she still wants to shoot me?"

"She won't shoot you."

"You don't _know_ that," Danny pointed out. As he said it, he suddenly realized this was the same conversation he'd had with Sam—only this time, he was on the other side.

He wanted to trust Valerie. He really did. But she…wasn't taking this revelation very well.

She thought he was making it up. That it was just a joke, that he was playing her like Vlad had, that he'd constructed everything so that she came to the conclusion that he was a halfa, that Fenton and Phantom were the same. The truth, which she thought was a lie. Because the truth hurt.

He wasn't so sure that she wouldn't shoot Phantom on sight, if she was still convinced that he was a full ghost with a cruel sense of humour.

"I should go as Fenton, shouldn't I?" Danny realized.

"That's your best bet, especially since Mom and Dad are still scoping out the park and will be for some time yet. Valerie won't arouse their suspicion as the Red Huntress, but if Phantom shows up…."

Danny grimaced. "I don't need to be chased across town right now. Right. Thanks, Jazz."

"Just watch your step, little brother," Jazz said, smiling at him. "That's thanks enough." Danny turned, and Jazz added, "And, Danny?"

He stopped. "Yeah?"

"Walk slowly, and maybe wait for Valerie to leave before you do confront her. You should be able to cover the major exits and keep an eye on the air, too, without much trouble. It's just…. She needs some time, and while you don't want to wait too long, this isn't a confrontation you want to rush."

"Right," Danny said again, softly. "I'll do that."

* * *

Danny Fenton was Danny Phantom. Fenton was Phantom. _Danny_ was….

No matter how many times Valerie repeated it, no matter that she'd accepted it, she still found it hard to believe. The ghost she'd thought was her enemy was her friend. One of her best friends, truth be told. It was rather ironic; ghost hunting had meant she'd pushed so many of her friends away, and to find out that one of the ones she'd tried to keep was actually someone she'd been hunting….

The fact that Danny's parents did the same was little comfort. She almost couldn't believe that he'd never told them—until she remembered how she'd reacted.

Valerie passed Danny's parents as she made her way out of the park, ducking back into the trees so they didn't see her. It was getting dark now—it was later than she'd realized—but the Fentons did try to be thorough, so their presence wasn't surprising. Still, they no doubt regarded her as a reliable witness, and she didn't feel like being questioned about the ghost attack. She wasn't sure how easily she could talk about what had happened now that she knew more of the story. Things weren't black and white anymore, and she couldn't pretend they were. She'd been pretending for far too long as it was.

"Hey, uh, Valerie? Can we talk?"

She hadn't been paying too much attention to where she was going, just letting her feet carry her past one of the park entrances, but that voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Sure, Danny," she said softly.

Silence. Finally, "I'm sorry." A slight pause, then a hurried, "About earlier, I mean."

He was playing it safe. He didn't know what was going on in her head, what conclusions she'd come to. She couldn't blame him for not being able to guess; _she_ wasn't entirely sure, either. Not really. "It's okay. I get it now. Not all of it, but enough. Enough to know that you're not the one who should be sorry. _I'm_ sorry."

She hadn't been looking at Danny, so she risked a quick glance at him now. He had a relieved smile on his face. "So you, uh, accept it now?"

Valerie nodded. "And forgive you. Can you do the same?"

"I never blamed you for anything in the first place," Danny said. "Of course I can forgive you, even if you didn't really do anything wrong. Not when you didn't know."

"You might not blame me, but I blame myself," Valerie admitted. They were walking side by side now, slowly, weaving their way back to Danny's house. She was glad he let her lead; she didn't want to go to the Nasty Burger now. Somehow, she was sure Sam and Tucker would still be there. It wouldn't be closed yet, after all, and Danny had undoubtedly told them what had happened with her—and how she'd reacted to the truth. Frankly, Valerie wasn't sure she could face them unless she first faced Danny alone.

They walked in silence for a while. She wasn't sure what to say, and she doubted Danny knew, either. But she wanted to say something, so she finally started the conversation again. "You didn't tell anyone else in case they reacted like I did, right?"

"And because of what I said before," Danny replied. "And other stuff. I mean, I was going to tell Mom and Dad at first, but then I just…didn't. There was never a good time."

"Guess there wouldn't be," Valerie agreed. She didn't want to tell Danny what to do, but she wasn't sure keeping this a secret wasn't going to blow up in his face at some point. Because it wasn't just his secret anymore. There was Vlad. There was Dani.

Dani….

"Who's Danielle?" Valerie asked, the words out of her mouth before she realized she was asking.

Danny sighed. "It's a long story."

"Well, I'm listening," Valerie said. In her mind, she was lining up things that didn't quite make sense. Danny had said that he and Danielle weren't actually cousins, even if they called each other that. He'd just said that she felt like family. But there seemed to be a family resemblance. Now that she thought about it, their human forms looked as much alike as their ghost forms. And they had both adopted the name 'Phantom'.

"I just don't know if I should say," Danny admitted. "I know you wouldn't do it intentionally, Val, but I don't want you to think differently of her. She's just a girl."

"I don't think differently of you," Valerie said bluntly. "Why would I think differently of her?"

When Danny didn't answer right away, Valerie suddenly wondered if some of her initial thoughts could be right. What if Vlad _had_ managed to make Danielle a halfa? What if she had been his experiment after all? What if her 'creation' as a half ghost hadn't been an accident like it had been for Danny? Like it had undoubtedly been for Vlad?

Danny glanced at Valerie and seemed to read her thoughts. "It was Vlad," he said simply.

The sick feeling from earlier had returned. The more she learned about Vlad, the more she couldn't believe she'd ever thought highly of him. "That's horrible."

Danny shrugged. "Dani's stable now. As long as she's safe and happy, _I'm_ happy."

Valerie shot a sideways glance at Danny. "I don't get it," she said. "How come Danielle wasn't stable and you and Vlad are?"

Danny stopped abruptly. "Oh," he said, very quietly. "I thought you'd realized."

Valerie hadn't thought she could think any less of Vlad by this point, but she supposed she shouldn't be surprised to learn that Mr. Masters had been up to something even worse than what she'd been thinking. From the sounds of it, he'd done more than just experiment on an innocent girl. Danny had seen a lot; he had to have, if only because he was Phantom. To have that tone….

"Dani was one of Vlad's experiments," Danny explained in a low voice. "But she…. She's more than that, Valerie, but she can't…. I think that's why she keeps going off. She's trying to find herself. And I keep letting her go because I don't know what else to do, even though I…. I don't want to see her go." The last words were barely audible.

She'd been right. Oh, Lord, she'd been right. Vlad _had_ created Danielle. Actually made her what she was: half a girl, half a ghost. _Made_ her.

But…if she wasn't really Danny's cousin, then what was up with the family resemblance? 'Cause there was no way that was just a coincidence. They looked way too much alike. More so than even Jazz and Danny. Heck, if she didn't know better, she'd say—

Oh, God.

Valerie looked at Danny, _really_ looked at him, and the realization hit her like a punch to the gut. She couldn't believe she hadn't realized it before, and she was horrified that she'd realized it now, even without Danny out and out telling her.

Vlad had…had….

Experimenting was bad enough. She'd been disgusted enough when she'd first suspected his genetic research had been limited to using ectoplasm and energy and whatever else to making more part ghosts like him. But playing God?

That was sick. Low, even for him. To _do_ that and to just... To turn around and try to...

No wonder Danny was so protective of Danielle.

No wonder he didn't want to talk about her.

Danny started walking again. He was staring at the ground, pointedly not looking at her. "I'm sorry," Valerie said. She couldn't think of anything else to say. She was just too horrified and sickened to think straight. "For asking, I mean. I shouldn't have. It's none of my business."

There was silence for a while. They just kept walking, keeping beside each other but neither saying anything. Then, finally, Danny said, "You can't say anything."

"I won't," Valerie said immediately, alarmed that Danny would think she'd dream of opening her mouth, especially after…. "I promise. You're my friend, Danny. Even if I never realized how much of one." He'd stood by her when she'd been trying to destroy him, after all. That was worth more to her than he knew.

"I mean you can't say anything to anyone," Danny said. "Not to your father, not to your friends."

"What about Sam and Tucker? Maybe if they know I'm not planning on hunting you down, they'll warm up to me."

There was a pause. "That's probably true," conceded Danny, "but I'm more worried about Vlad."

Valerie raised an eyebrow. "I thought you said the others were safe because they knew about all the halfas. So why doesn't this apply to me?"

"Because," Danny answered softly, "you're still safer if everyone else thinks you're just hunting ghosts like you always were. That you don't know about me or Vlad or even Danielle. All the other ghosts know that Sam and Tucker know my secret, and I'm pretty sure most of them know that Jazz figured it out, too, since she's fought with me a few times. But I've only ever worked with you when we called a truce. You told Vlad you were going to take a break, so maybe if you just ease up on me…."

"I'm not going to keep hunting you down when I know who you are," Valerie protested immediately. "That's nuts!"

"I'm not saying that," Danny said. "I'm just saying it's safer for you if no one thinks you know anything else, if it seems like you're just like my parents, with no notion that the existence of half ghosts is even possible. I just…. I'm not sure I can protect you, Val."

"Protect me?" Valerie knew she shouldn't be using this tone, but she couldn't believe what Danny was saying. "You think I need protection? Me? You know how much training I've gotten, and that's not even counting ghost hunting."

"Yeah," Danny admitted, "but this is against ghosts like Plasmius. And unless you do want to try training with Mom and Dad—well, Mom—then you've only got the weapons you have now and the ones you can make."

He figured she'd have a target on her back if it got out that she knew. That she wouldn't be able to handle an upward swing in pressure. That her cover would slip. That, all too soon, the secret of her being the Red Huntress wouldn't just be common knowledge around ghosts. And if her secret could get out….

"But come on, Danny," Valerie said, refusing to think that something terrible would happen just because she knew, "can't you just have a little more faith in my hunting skills?"

There was silence for a moment. Then, "How many times have you actually captured me, Val?"

Great. He would pull that one on her. "Once," she muttered, figuring he wouldn't count earlier today since she hadn't actually been hunting him at the time.

"Yeah. Plasmius easily has twenty years' experience on me. You don't want to mess with him."

"But I wasn't going to."

"You know about him." There was a pause, and Valerie knew what Danny didn't say: if Vlad suspected that she knew about Danny, then he might wonder how she'd found out, since Danny hadn't told her before and didn't appear to have any reason to tell her now. And if he did much investigating, he might realize that his secret wasn't safe from her, either. "If he finds out, then he'll do something."

She didn't really want to think of what he would do, though her imagination was currently supplying her with multiple unpleasant possibilities. "But he didn't to you guys."

"Because it's different."

"But you can't even explain _how_ it's different!"

"It still is, okay?" Danny was looking at her earnestly right now. "Just trust me on this. Vlad's been after me since the minute he realized I was a halfa, too, and Danielle's a prime example of how desperate he got when I wouldn't join with him. He tried to pit Jazz against me once, so he's not above using the people I care about against me. Sure, you're a good hunter, Val. You really are. But you're so used to fuelling your fights with anger, I'm not so sure you can fight with a clear head, and you need one when you go up against Plasmius. It's all a game with him, and if you can't stay focussed…."

"You lose," Valerie finished slowly.

"Nine times out of ten, yes."

"So what do I do?" Valerie asked quietly. "Keep trying to pretend that this doesn't mean anything? That I don't know anything? That this doesn't change _everything_?"

Danny shook his head. "Just keep being who you are."

"And what if Vlad confronts me about this? What am I supposed to say?"

Danny shrugged. "Whatever you have to. Just don't confirm anything for him. If you aren't careful, he'll set a trap and you'll walk right into it. You can't take back what you've already said."

"But what if he's—"

"Valerie." Danny caught her hands, which she belatedly realized she'd been flailing around, making gestures to emphasize her words, her anger, her fear. "Breathe. Just breathe. You'll get through this. You've gotten through other stuff."

Yeah, she had. But this…. She hadn't realized quite how cocky she must have been getting, how arrogant. She'd been wrong about so many things, and she'd never realized it until now. Never had an inkling, in all the time she'd been ghost hunting. She'd just thought she knew it all. That her knowledge couldn't possibly be flawed.

And it was. Every bit of it. And she'd been acting as if her ghost knowledge was infallible, making excuses for everything that didn't fit.

Now, as penance, almost, she had to keep doing that.

So she wasn't slaughtered, literally or figuratively, by the ghost she'd unwittingly been working for.

Talk about a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Valerie took a few deep breaths. "I'm okay," she said. She wasn't okay, and Danny probably knew it, judging by the concern in his eyes, but he released her hands anyway.

Danny Fenton was Danny Phantom. She knew Danny a lot better than she knew Phantom, so she knew that most of what she'd thought about Phantom was wrong. Assumptions, misconceptions, lies, the lot. But knowing that just served to remind her that if what she'd thought she'd known about him wasn't true, then she really didn't know anything.

That was the difference, then. The difference Danny couldn't pinpoint. She knew his carefully guarded secret. She didn't know his story. Even if she did know, vaguely, how it had begun, how Phantom had come to be, she didn't know him. Knowing that Danielle and Vlad were out there, that they existed as what they were, was no different. She didn't know the background, she didn't know the stories, and, to be honest, she didn't understand why things had played out as they had.

If she was perfectly honest with herself, she wasn't even sure why Danny risked his life every single day (and night, if the number of times he'd fallen asleep in class and the number of times she'd chased him after dark was anything to go by) to fight ghosts.

She'd done it out of vengeance, wanting revenge for a perceived wrong. She'd let it consume her and give her purpose. She'd been wrapped up in an obsession, no better than the ghosts she'd hunted.

But that couldn't be the case for Danny. He'd said it had been an accident. She supposed it might have started because he somehow thought that this was all his fault. She wouldn't put it past him. If he figured Amity Park was such a hotspot for ghosts because he was what he was or because he'd made sure his parents' ghost portal provided a stable passageway between the two dimensions, he could easily take more than his fair share of the blame. Then again, it could be a sense of duty, a desire to protect his family and friends any way he could. Or it could even be because his family _was_ a family of ghost hunters and hunting ghosts was just…ingrained in him.

For all she knew, it was all those reasons and more.

Since her fall from popularity, she'd considered herself Danny Fenton's friend. She still did, even now, but she knew…. She knew why Sam and Tucker had tried so hard to stop their friendship from forming and, particularly when it came to Sam, from growing. Sam and Tucker had been there since the beginning. With the way Jazz could put the pieces together and see through lies, Danny likely hadn't managed to keep the truth from her for very long, either. So the bond those four had was their protection. Their love, their friendship, their trust, their knowledge, their skill. It had protected them because they'd protected each other. They hadn't needed to do any second guessing.

She didn't have that.

Not with them.

To be honest, she didn't have that with anyone anymore. She wasn't sure if she ever had. Everyone she knew from the A-list had been little more than fair weather friends. And while she'd become friends with Danny, she never had been best friends with him, not in the way that Sam and Tucker were. Neither of them had shared their biggest secret with the other, even when they'd been dating. They'd gotten along. They'd liked each other. Maybe, given time, they would've trusted each other. But she'd cut their relationship short before it had ever had the chance to develop to that level, all in an effort to protect Danny from Phantom and all the other ghosts.

The irony of that, and of her actions since then, was painfully obvious to her now.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Danny asked gently. "I mean, if you want to talk it out, just name the place and I'll go."

"No, I'm fine," Valerie replied automatically. She knew she should take him up on his offer. She'd wanted to find him for that very reason, after all. To talk. To get some answers. To understand.

But Danny was right.

It was safer, right now, if she pretended to remain oblivious. She couldn't ask Danny to spill his guts, to tell her everything that had happened since he'd become Phantom, to try to force a bond between them to form. That wouldn't make it a true bond. It wouldn't be strong. She was better off to bide her time, to let it develop naturally, to let him tell her what he wanted to, like he did with Sam and Tucker.

She wouldn't hunt him anymore, though. She couldn't. She didn't care if that change in behaviour might pique Vlad's interest; she wouldn't try to destroy her friend. The boy who was probably _her_ best friend, even if she wasn't his.

It was easy enough to explain away. Vlad knew she'd rescued Dani, even if he was pretending that Masters had been in a closet the entire time. If he asked, she'd just insist that she didn't feel right fighting off any ghost that didn't first attack. She wouldn't say it was because she suspected that there might be others like Danielle, providing he tried to corner her about it to see if she suspected anything about the existence of half ghosts; it was easy enough to use Danielle as the reason she could no longer deny the claim that some ghosts were good.

Maybe Vlad would see right through her. Maybe, now that she knew more of the truth, she wouldn't be able to hide her disgust of him. But she had to try. For Danny's sake, and for hers. She couldn't ask him to try to protect her any more than he already was. She'd have to deal with Vlad herself. Even though she knew what he was capable of. Even though she knew that, if he really wanted to, he could find a way to kill her and make it look like an accident.

If he _really _wanted to, he could probably find a way to kill her and blame it on Danny. On Phantom.

She wasn't going to think about it. Vlad hadn't resorted to that yet, and she doubted he'd want to get his hands dirty. It would be easier for him to take it out on her through her father. If he lost his job and couldn't get another one, they really would be struggling to make ends meet, far more than they were now. But if she kept her mouth shut, Vlad shouldn't find reason to resort to that now. She was on thin ice by taking this break, but she needed it. She couldn't work for him anymore. Even knowing what quitting might mean, she knew she couldn't continue.

And Danny would try to protect her. She knew that. He'd be looking out for her now, thinking she had a target on her back. But she'd have to keep looking over her shoulder, even with his protection. Even as Phantom, she wasn't sure he could be in two places at once. He'd said he couldn't, and she suspected that that hadn't just been a lie to throw her off the scent.

As far as she knew, Phantom still needed to work on duplication. For all that he was capable of it, it needed work. Besides, Danny would probably be in less trouble if he'd already mastered it. He wouldn't need to run out of class all the time, for one. And if he was determined to keep this a secret from his parents, he'd have more luck if they started seeing Phantom and Fenton together. From what she understood, they figured Danny was terrified of ghosts and just ran every time one showed up.

She was rather surprised they hadn't tried some crazy method of teaching him to stand his ground and fight the ghosts, making sure he was wearing enough anti-ghost devices to ensure that he wasn't in danger in case something went wrong. She was willing to bet that _something_ the Fentons had invented could sense Phantom in Danny.

Then again, with Jazz on Danny's side, perhaps his parents had never had a good opportunity. Perhaps they didn't even think that would be the best way to go about it.

"You know," Danny said slowly, "if you want, we can just hang out with Sam and Tucker. Now, or tomorrow if you want some more time to just…digest everything. It'd just be for fun. Like old times."

Like old times, before she knew his secret. "Yeah," Valerie agreed. "I'd like that."

"We can even—" Danny broke off. For a split second, Valerie could've sworn she'd seen his breath.

"What?" Valerie asked. Even as the word came out of her mouth, though, she knew the answer to her question. She'd turned the volume down on her ghost sensor during her last conversation with Danny Fenton, but she could still hear the beeping coming earnestly from her bag.

"Ghost," Danny answered needlessly. "I'll just, uh…."

"Go," said Valerie. "I'll be fine. You need a thermos?" She offered hers to Danny, and he grinned and took it before dashing off.

No wonder Phantom always showed up wherever the ghosts were. Danny knew when they turned up. She still wasn't sure how, entirely, but she suspected she hadn't been seeing things earlier.

Valerie dug out her ghost sensor and turned it off. Her fingers itched to curl around a blaster, but she wasn't going to blow her cover. She was taking a break from ghost hunting, even if it killed her. She still wondered who it was, though. Not Skulker, not after the state they'd left him in. Perhaps one of the more challenging ghosts? There usually was a bit of a lull just before a powerful one turned up, almost as if the other—

"_I am the Box Ghost_!"

Valerie smirked. A challenge? No. Not that ghost. Not since her first day. And though she wouldn't have minded taking out some of the tension she was feeling on the unfortunate ghost, she found she could relax without it. Finding out about Danny hadn't taken away her purpose, even if she had poured a lot of her time into hunting Phantom down. Instead, it had…opened her up, in a way. Lifted off a weight she hadn't noticed she'd been carrying.

She wasn't bitter anymore.

Valerie's smirk melted into a smile as she listened to Phantom's—Danny's—voice in the distance, taunting the Box Ghost. It would take a while before her life reached a state that resembled 'normal' again, but she was willing to take the time to work towards it. She just had to be careful and play her cards right. At some point, she was pretty sure Danny would have to tell his parents his secret. And maybe once he did…. Maybe then, she wouldn't have to pretend she was blind to everything. Maybe then, they would have worked out a way to make sure Vlad wasn't a threat or, at the very least, was less of one.

Maybe then, Danny could feel as light and free as she did right now.

And until then? They'd get through whatever was thrown at them. Somehow. They were certainly no strangers to keeping secrets. If they worked together, they could shape things for the better, set the stage so that the odds were in their favour when the cat was finally let out of the bag. And once it was, well, they'd still find a way to keep going. Valerie was certain of that.

_Fin_

* * *

A/N: Okay, slightly open-ended. I've written worse. (_Connections_, anyone? Some people didn't even realize I'd finished that….) But we'll just say Vlad doesn't find out about Valerie yet, shall we? It hasn't been that long since their meeting, after all, and that encounter didn't go so poorly that Vlad would immediately suspect Valerie knew something, if not precisely what she knew. And Danny's solution was mostly to buy them as much time as possible before Vlad finds out, if anyone's wondering. My reasoning, anyway.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to read and review this story. I quite appreciated it!


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